Remember Me
by Riverseithr
Summary: Story about two sisters who find themselves in Konoha with one problem, they both have amnesia! With their memories slowly returning and dealing all sorts of issues. How will they like their new home? NejixOC ShikamaruxOC. WARNING: Language, Some Violence, Suggestive Situations, and Mild Gore/Torture.
1. Chapter 1:Welcome to Konoha

Inspired by LadyZombie's "Fangirl to the Rescue"

For my best friend whom I call my sister. May this bring you the fangirl dream along with some laughs.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or anything affiliated with it...No stealing or me and my sis will hunt you down and curb stomp you...

* * *

Characters:

Yuki: Long pink hair, usually done up in some form, green eyes, and shorter than her sister. Intelligent, athletic, outgoing and optimistic, she is anything but dull and tougher than she looks. Seems to have more color in her wardrobe than outside. Spends her time trying to keep Kori in line along with having problems on her own.

Kori: Younger of the two with shorter purple hair and stormy eyes. Sarcastic, strong willed, spontaneous, and excitable. Lives life out bold and doesn't care who is watching. Unafraid of standing up for what she believes in. Tends to dress in darker colors so she can blend in and everyone doesn't notice her because deep down she is kinda shy.

The story begins in Kori's perspective.

* * *

_I don't remember anything except dying. _

_Water filling my lungs._

**_ How did we get there?_**

**_ Who were we running from? _**

_If it wasn't for the one who found us...we would be gone. _

**_Who was that lady cutting off my top? _**

**_I can't breathe. _**

_Why?_

_"She is dead. We found them in the river on the border. They don't have anything to I.D them," came a voice above, "We stabilized the other one but her.."_

**_No I am not dead, I can HEAR you! I am right here! Help._**

_ I am so cold. _

**_Fight it, whatever it takes fight it! _**

_-cough-_

_"She's breathing!" yelled a voice, "Prep her! We need to get all the water out!"_

_Everything went black after that. I am not sure why, but I was tired, funny how you wake up and only find yourself tired. I wonder what happened and how I got in the water. Just me and my sis. I remember screaming but what were we running from?_

_"It's time to go...!" said her voice, "Come on, the rocks are ahead!"_

_"!" I screamed, that is right I screamed._

_ Something went wrong on those rocks._

_"It is time to wake up silly," my sister said, "You have slept to much and will be all stiff!"_

_Alright I am up. I guess five more minutes won't work on her a second time. Five more minutes? Heh. Wonder when I said that? _

Inhaling sharply, I sat up straight. Looking around, I had to cover my eyes to shield them from the bright light filtering in. This wasn't anywhere I was familiar with, and I was scared. Checking around I found another bed to my right, laying in the bed in the strange room was another girl with bright pink hair with a little blond in it. She was asleep and something was very familiar about her. _My sister._ _I need to get to her._

Climbing out of bed, I fell. I couldn't feel my legs to well and everything was heavy so I crawled. Crawling towards the bed I managed to get to the other bed with difficulty. I was out of breath before I gripped the side and hoisting myself up before laying on it. Reaching forward I grabbed a stray hair on the face of her and swept it away. Suddenly there was a crash at the door, jerking my head up I saw someone in white standing there and looking at Me. The woman ran off and came back with a older lady with blond pigtails.

"You shouldn't be out of bed!" she yelled.

I crouched over my sister defensively and looked at the woman and hissed. I don't know why I did, but I did. The woman became rigid at first before she seemed to calm down and relax, trying to look like she wasn't a threat, I believe. She slowly walked over and held her hands up where I could see them. When she was a foot away from my sister, she spoke again.

"This is Konoha Hospital. You and her have been here for little over a month. A jonin found you while returning home from a mission on our border. You were worse than she was and had a broken arm and leg along with some fractured ribs. She got off with some bumps and bruises, but you both had some head trauma. Do you remember anything?" she said calmly.

I tried to think back but my head began to hurt and everything got fuzzy. I shook it slowly.

"Amnesia isn't uncommon with traumatic experiences but we will need to keep you here for some observation. You have some loss of muscle mass because you were in a coma, but other than that you are okay," she told me.

"What about my sister?" I asked.

"You are related? Well that makes things easier. Do you remember your name?" she asked.

"No. I remember water and being cold. You cut the clothes I had off of me to save me. Other than that information I can't tell you anymore sorry," I said before spotting a boy with brown shaggy hair heading past our room. I knew him so I blurted out, "Kiba!"

The boy froze before turning and looking at me. The woman grabbed the boy and placed him before me.

"You know him!" she sounded surprised, "Kiba who is she?"

"I don't know!" he said trying to pry himself out of her grip.

"I know you! I don't know why but I KNOW you!" I said smiling.

"Cut it out you are creeping me out!" he yelled at me before being bonked on the head by the woman, "Ow!"

"Don't hurt him!" I found myself saying before I covered my mouth, "It isn't his fault. I don't remember. I don't know why but he is important."

"What do you mean?" she asked, "Who do you remember?"

"Tsunade is your name isn't it... Besides him? Neji and Shikamaru. The names I recall but I don't know why they are important. Most of it is a blur."

Something stirred under me, and I looked to find my sister waking up. I began to hug her tightly and crying, "You are awake! I am so happy!"

"Can't...breathe!" she said before I let go, "Where are we?"

"Konoha...do you remember anything?" I asked her.

"Shikimaru," she said looking down.

"Only him? What about Kiba?" I asked.

"Yeah, I know they are important," she told everyone, "I just don't remember why."

"I remember everyone's faces sis, but I don't remember why. I know everything and nothing at all," I said.

"Confusing as always. Why are we in here?" she asked.

I told her everything I could before Tsunade filled us in on what they believed happened. We were also going to be asked questions when our memory returned, if it did. For all they knew we were rouge ninja. While looking at Kiba I remembered Sasuke and Naruto, Shikimaru, Chōji, and Neji.

"Have you gone out to get him yet?" I asked.

"Who?" asked Kiba.

"Sasuke.." I said trailing off.

"What do you know of him?" asked Tsunade calmly.

"His family is dead, trained by Kakashi, recruited by Orochimaru, tries to get revenge on his brother, and...that is all I remember," I said trying to see what they knew. I knew MUCH more, but I didn't want to give anything away.

"We haven't found him," she told me.

"So Orochimaru is still...," I said biting my lip.

"What?" said Tsunade, flinging me around and gripping my shoulders.

"Unknown," I said lying through my teeth.

"He is know by everyone!" barked Kiba.

"No she means that WHERE he is isn't known," said my sister behind me.

"Is Naruto here?" she asked.

"No he left with Jirayia a while ago," said Kiba.

"How long?" she asked.

"Six months," Tsunade replied, "Why do you know anything?"

"Only that they will be back, and you will not find anything out until he comes back. I know this," I told them, and I looked at my sister and I could tell she knew it too, "Do you know?"

"Yes, I know. How long before we can leave?" she asked Tsudnade.

"Another week at least. I want to make sure everything is okay," she told us, "So you don't remember which village you are from?"

"Couldn't tell you, we don't remember," we both said.

"We don't have anywhere to go so can we stay here?" I asked.

"In the hospital?" asked Kiba.

"Yep, he is a keeper," I said rolling my eyes, "but who wouldn't! No Kiba, I mean Konoha. I don't want to go out there and not remember. What happens if we are ninja?"

"Then you will have to find out," said Tsunade before sighing, "Look. Your memory may not ever return and I can't let you leave here for many reasons."

"You are just worried that we may be involved with Orochimaru, Sasuke, or the Akatsuki." I said before clamping my mouth shut.

I was sideswiped with questions and I couldn't think. Whatever this Akatsuki was, it was pretty important. I knew that for some reason but why didn't I know NOT to say that word. What was it other than a name? That question was easily answered through the yelling both of us were exposed to. They were a group of rouge ninja who were notorious across the land and apparently did a lot of bad things in thier life. Other than recruiting Orochimaru and Itchachi, there wasn't much I could tell her. I really couldn't remember other than in the pit of my stomach something bad was going to happen everytime I heard that name. I was really scared at what was going to happen to us since we both knew the name and some people who were apparently in it. Tsunade assured both of us that we would be under protection until we offically got better, that and something about interrogating people with amnesia wasn't a good thing for our health. So our saving grace was also our curse but for the life of me I could feel something in the back of my head telling me that these were 'memories' rather than any information really. Why would I be reminded of the future? Deja Vu wasn't even this good. Something was really wrong, and I wasn't going to sit by and watch while something bad happened to people.

After being 'escorted' to my bed with rather rough man handleing ninja in masks and Kiba left, we were asked question upon question. I knew to keep most everything secret if I remembered. I had a feeling I shouldn't trust anyone in a mask other than someone with white hair. His face was so familiar to me but I couldn't place the name at that moment, but I really couldn't try and figure it out either. All the questions were about Orochimaru, his whereabouts, the Akatsuki, who was in it, and random stuff that I didn't care to remember. Out of all of it, I could remember Deidra and Kazaku, but nothing other than the name, and I could remember Kabuto, other than bits and pieces that didn't make since at all. After hours of being kept talking and thinking, my brain hurt and I was tired. I wanted to fall asleep, fortunately at around nine they were chased out by Tsunade herself.

"Thanks Tsunade," I told her, "Any chance we aren't enemies?"

"I don't know. We will be checking that information you gave us soon," she said.

"What if it doesn't exist? Will we be killed?" I asked.

"No, but your memory loss could be a genjutsu. You did have some information that could prove useful. Tomorrow we will run tests to make sure your memory is amnesia rather than a genjustsu placed on you," she said before walking out the door.

"What about our names?" I asked.

"I don't know," Tsunade replied.

"We can think of new one's sis, now go to sleep," said my sister.

"We have been sleeping for over a month. I can't" I replied, "I guess until we get our legs back to a-okay then I guess I am forced, yet again to listen to you."

"Stubborn," she snapped.

"Bossy," I replied.

"Kiba was cute wasn't he?" she asked me

"Oh yeah, but what if he is too old or too young for us? I mean we look older than him," I replied.

"Says the one who is pretty much taller than everyone," she said.

"I can't help it if I am taller than you! Does that make me older?" I asked.

"No, I remember I am older than you by a few years," she said before snoring.

"Gah, I hate it when you do that. Talk while going to sleep. I can't do that!" I said to myself before making the pillows comfy and trying to sleep.

My mind was reeling on the fact I knew everyone before they told me their names. Tsunade wasn't surprised about me knowing her name though, maybe she was famous. Who knew. The only thing that was left for us to do was to get better and train. Even if we weren't ninjas, I was going to be one. The thought of doing cool things like running really fast, poofing in and out of buildings, and all other sorts of stuff seemed unnatural to me but cool. Everyone here seemed to be okay with the fact that stuff happened. What if I was from place that didn't allow that? No way was I going back. I wanted to stay here.

_They have Kiba and cool ninja stuff. I don't care where I am from I am not going back!_

I kept thinking to myself before sleep caught up with me and I fell asleep.

* * *

**River: **So yeah, I asked my 'Sis' about Naruto and whom she 'wants'. So it turns out she is a fangirl like me but we have different tastes in the bishi men, "THANK GOD" I say. The only bad part was the fact she couldn't choose between Kiba or Shikimaru...and my dilemma was Neji or Kiba...I opted out Kiba because she wanted him and well Neji is Neji. 'Nuff said.

I know slow chapter but I wanted this to be before Shippuden so I can get the characters into bonnified ninja along with some memories back and the story still make some sense. I will skip ahead through the anime/manga and bounce along some of the major events so you can keep up with time line but other than that...nothing should be ripped out of the plot and put here, unless it is a 'major battle.' *cough* probably pein incident..

Plus I don't know how many chapters I want in this thing other than at least five...that should work but if I am going to progress at pace, expect somewhere around ten. I may switch POV between the two girls in the case I separate them.

Leave a review if you like this thanks.


	2. Chapter 2:Students

It was the day that they were going to test us to see if we were placed under genjustu. There were various people there, one whom introduced himself as Inoichi Yamanaka. He was going to help us remember things if everything went smooth. They told us to relax and they began moving their hands and ridiculous speeds! When they were finished they called out names, but it was sort of a blur. After five minutes they told Tsunade that it wasn't any genjutsu that they knew of, and apparently there was a lot of them. After speaking in low voices to one another they turned back towards us. Inoichi stepped up to both of us.

"I am going to try and enter your mind to see if there is any memories," he said,"Since you suffer from amnesia I am only going to try and get them to surface and I can only do this once. Try and relax. This won't hurt you in any way."

I shifted nervously in my bed as I looked to my sister and gulped. She simply nodded my head and told me silently that I had to do this. I knew it was better to co-operate with them rather than put of a fight. Somehow I didn't want him in my head, something about personal space and I was scarred by all this. I closed my eyes and exhaled slowly to calm my nerves down. After opening them I looked at the blue eyed man.

"Look, I don't want you to do this, but it is your job. I am totally freaked out by all this shit. I will try and relax but if I think you are up to no good then your ass is being kicked out of my head, got it?" I told him.

"Not many people can do that once I am in," he smiled,"and since you are not ninja you have no way of knowing how."

"Great," I said rolling my eyes, "I will be the first to prove you wrong."

He simply placed his hand on my head while Tsunade stepped over to my right side to make sure my body wasn't going to get over stressed. He then instructed me to close my eyes and get comfortable. I did what he asked and it took two seconds for everything to go black. Then I appeared to be starring at him. He looked up at me and waved. It looked like I was in a pitch black dome but there was a slight glow in the middle, I couldn't tell what it was but I wasn't sure I wanted to know.

"You are looking at me with your mind's eye," he said,"I have adjusted the chakra flow to allow it, so you don't become frightened."

He then held up his hand and a door appeared. He tried opening it up and it appeared to be locked.

"Relax," he said, trying to soothe me.

"I don't know what that door is, and I don't know why it is locked, Mr. In my brain." I said flatly.

"This door is your memories," he said, "There are many like them. Each holding a set of different memories. This particular door is the events leading up to before you came to Konoha. Focus on unlocking it. This type door seems to swing open and close. Imagine a split in the door to allow it to open."

I did as instructed and a line seemed to etch its way into the wood, or whatever that door was made out of. The door creaked and popped open. Suddenly there was a rush of water hitting Inoichi and he had to preform a jutsu to keep from being swept away. Suddenly I hurt. A low throbbing pain a first but then it was intense. It was fuzzy and looked like a bad picture on an old television but eventually it became clear.

"...come on we have to make it to the ten mile marker!" said my sister.

"I know, but there is just too much to photograph. Plus there are bears around here," I said.

"So? We don't have any food and I want to make it back before lunch. Jeez you are slow!" she taunted.

"Alright, let me take a few pictures off the cliff right there. I want to get a shot of the waterfall," I said picking up my pace.

We both stopped and took off our packs before I held up a camera to my face. I was in the middle of taking a few shots when the ground began to rumble slightly. I lost my balance and landed close to the cliff's edge. My sis quickly jumped towards me and caught me by the feet to make sure I didn't go over. When the rumbling stopped we both stood up and looked at each other. There wasn't anything in the forecast about earthquakes, and for that matter we were not near active volcanoes, or active shifts. We quickly gathered our stuff and began to start making our way off the cliff when a man came from out of nowhere. He had something in his hand but I couldn't make it out. I then refocused on his face, everything was blurred and then something shiny caught my eye.

I looked down at the river below and back towards him. He then charged at us and we began screaming. I then started using my camera as a flail and began beating him over the head. This didn't stop him, he tackled me and held up something, a knife? My sis then tackled him and took off her pack and used it as a weapon before she thought she knocked him out. Leaving her pack, she grabbed me and started to run off but before she could the man grabbed both of us and began struggling. Eventually we found ourselves close to the cliff with him forcing us back. I told her to move and I bear hugged him and turned around, letting go of him and watched as he fell off the side. Unfortunate he grabbed a hold of her shirt and took her with him. I jumped after her without a second thought. When I caught up with her, I grabbed her and kicked him away and then tightened my hold around her to keep her from being injured as we hit the water.

There was a flash of light and I rose out of bed in an instant. Inoichi had already backed away and was having what sounded like a heated conversation with Tsunade. After they noticed I was awake Tsunade rushed over to me and placed her hand on my head.

"You began convulsing soon after the process started. Inoichi was forced to leave after opening one door. Apparently it was so intense it had a psychosomatic effect on you," Tsunade said, "I won't allow this to happen again. If your memories affect you like this then we have to let them return slowly and I will make you come in for monthly checkups."

"Ow," I said, "I remember why we are here. We were attacked. I couldn't see his face and he was all blurry but we threw him in the river before sis fell and I jumped after her. I think we hit the rocks and were separated."

"Do you know if he survived?" they asked.

"No, but he had a knife or maybe a kunai. He might have been a ninja," I said," I mean if he was a ninja then he wasn't very good at there was a weird rumbling. Maybe an earthquake before he showed up."

"I.." said my sister, "Dark hair, strange eyes, and a funny voice. He was also wearing a dress, or cloak."

"Great we were being attacked by a cross-dresser?" I groaned.

"Well you two are medically sound and can begin working on your rehabilitation," said Tsunade, "While you are working on that for the next month or so, I can find a place for you to stay."

"Can we become ninja if we do the whole swearing allegiance and since we aren't from any other village?" I asked.

"I don't see why not," said Tsunade, "It would appear that your ages are in the late teens and possibly early twenties. So you will proably be sent a tutor for your training and you can take the test when you believe you are ready."

Both of us were given a flat close to the Academy if we ever needed to go there for any reason. Since we were considered Academy Students from time to time we had to spend some days there helping the teachers with things like gathering weapons, and cleaning classrooms while learning how to preform all the tasks that shinobi were supposed to do. Most of the things we learned pretty quickly. Both my sister and I had a knack for taijutsu, but I was more proficient with ninjutsu, while she had genjutusu down to an art form. During the first day in class we were introduced to the students.

"Alright, these two will be joining us for a while," said Iruka.

"Are they your assistants?" asked one of the kids, I believe he was called Konohamaru.

"No they are students like yourselves," he said.

The entire class busted out in laughter, but it was cut short when I used a death glare and cleared my throat.

"Look munchkins, we were not raised in a nin village like you, so if you don't mind, show respect to your elders before I think of things to do to you after school," I said adding a creepy laugh at the end.

Over the next few days we had earned our names. My sister was named Yuki, meaning snow, she was calm, pretty, pale, but mess with her and you got buried. I was named Kori, meaning ice, they said I belonged with the snow and protected it, and I was shy and slow when it came to meeting people, I was also very cold and callous to new people because I didn't know what to say to them. We did manage to progressed very quickly and it was discovered that Yuki's element was wind, while mine was water. Both of us were told it was very fitting to our names and our personalities. Things seemed to be going okay, well for the most part.

It was only a few weeks of the Academy and I was going insane over all the stuff we had to learn about ninja! That and our stupid reahab was at the same time as Rock Lee. He was nice and very friendly but I swear I woke up one night spouting the Springtime of Youth junk. I shuddered after I caught myself. I just kept repeating a calming mantra: _it is only a few more days, a few more days, a few more..._

The next morning both of us woke up by our sensei popping into our flat. Which was a little two bedroom, one and a half bath, and small kitchen and a living room. We did have a table but I ran into it so many times being late for everything, I eventually raged on it and broke it.

"Time for your morning exercises!" he said,"Today though you will accompany me to the Ninja Academy."

"It is five a.m. go do something rational," I groaned.

"You will never make a proper ninja," he said before walking into my room and flipping me out of the bed.

I jumped up and took off after him. The noises in the flat woke Yuki up. Luckily we didn't have any other people living around us, our closest neighbor was three apartments down. Yuki got up and started making her some tea and me coffee. After failing to cath Iruka for the fifth time, I gave up and began putting together a quick breakfast we could eat on the way. I ended up making breakfast burritos and grabbed my mug and we all headed out the door. It took me all of two seconds to realize I was still in my pajamas. I handed my breakfast to Yuki and then darted into the flat.

"Meet you there, I will bring your clothes!" I told Yuki.

I dressed in my black shorts that came just two inches down my thigh, fishnet undershirt that had sleeves going down half my arms but it was cut so that my abdomen would show, my red over shirt that had only one t-shirt like sleeve and the rest snugged itself around my chest, my black knee high shinobi boots, black gloves that came halway up my forearm, and red kunai holder. I grabbed Yuki's clothing which consisted up a pink tube top like dress with light gray fishnet cut so that it fit like a t-shirt, her pink gloves, her dark green pants that came down to her ankles, and her black shinobi sandals. After getting everything I ran back to the Academy.

When I arrived Yuki grabbed all her stuff and handed me breakfast. I quickly ate while waiting for class to start. I was finished with breakfast before Yuki came back dressed and she placed our mugs and her pajamas in a small cubby hole we found. Class was cut slightly short when an ANBU came in and gave Iruka a message. Iruka cleared his throat and told Yuki and me that we had to visit the Hokage. Sighing I got up and mumbled something unintelligible to myself, thankfully the kids didn't hear it because it wasn't something I wanted them to repeat.

When we got to the Hokage's office she had two other ninja in there. One had long brown hair dressed in a white shirt with long billowy sleeves, same colored pants that ran all the way to his shinobi sandals, which were black, and with a dark blue-gray skirt like thing that split in the middle, tied around his waist. He turned around and I could see his pale skin that looked like porcelain, his eyes at first glance didnt have any irisis, but a closer look revealed they were very light and had a lavender tint to them. His long brown hair was framed around his face and tied in the back, and he had a calm expression on his face. Yuki glanced between him and me and she knew that I was drooling.

The second one had a messy pony tail of dark hair, a green jacket, black undershirt and pants, and you could see some fishnet poking out from both his pants and his sleeves. He wore the same type of shoes as the other did, but he looked vastly different. When he greeted us, his chocolate eyes had a relaxed almost bored look and his skin was tan but sort of an olive tint ot it. I turned to Yuki as she stared and silently teased her before she elbowed me in the ribs. He looked like he was about to fall asleep or was debating on if this was worth the trouble. He raised his had to give us a greeting.

"Hi Shikimaru, Neji," I said while coughing.

"So you regained your memory?" asked Tsunade.

"No, the whole wierd face recognizing thing," I told her, "So what is this about?"

"Well there have been reports of villages in the area that have been destroyed overnight, and some people are missing. I wanted to know if you had any idea what this could be," she asked us.

We both thought about it. Sorting out all of the enemies that we knew about this was on a few of their lists.

"Sorry, we can't think of anything," I told her, "It could be the Akatsuki, or maybe Orochimaru testing something."

"I see, well I have a report from Iruka saying that you are doing well with your work," she told us, "I believe that if you can show me that you can do the basic skills of a shinobi then I will let you pass right now. That is another reason that I asked these two here. They are going to test you seperatley and decide on whether you pass or fail. We are short handed as it is, so this will have to do."

I nearly choked, Shikimaru sighed, Yuki had a clueless look on her face, but knowing her she was spazing out right now, and Neji had a blank expression. I raised my hand like an idiot.

"Erm, Miss Hokage, wouldn't it be better if we had one of the teachers test us?" I asked her.

"Well we are short handed that they are so busy that they can't spare the time," she said.

"Oh," I said trying not to sound nervous, "So who goes out with who, er I mean, that is, who tests whom."

"Hyuuga, you will go with Kori, and Nara, you are to go with Yuki," she said.

At that moment I felt as if someone signed my death certificate. There would be no way that I could focus with the hot shinobi standing before me. Both of them went to protest but a look shot at them from Tsunade had us all scrambling for the door. When we left the room I was laughing up until the point Yuki hit me over the head.

"Oi! What was that for?" I said rubbing my skull.

"You saw that look and you are LAUGHING?" she yelled at me.

"So, it was funny. All people laugh if they have near death experiences, don't they?" I asked her.

"Baka," she grumbled.

I hoped forward slightly and presented my hand to both of them, "Name is Kori, this is my sis Yuki, we don't have a last name yet, but we are hoping to get our memories back. Oh Shiki, she bites, and Neji lets get this execution over with. I am so nervous my butterflies have butterflies."

I ducked in time to watch a pink blur fly over my head, both of them looked at us questionably.

"Oh don't worry, if she does that," I managed to get out before Yuki got up and began to try and kill me, "she likes you!"

I ran around the boys before one of them grabbed us and separated us. I turned to look and I realized that I was somewhat taller than Neji, not by much but it would be noticeable if we stood side by side. It then donned on me that I was being held by Neji, the Neji. _Oh, my god Neji Hyuuga is touching me! -squeal- Okay calm down before he thinks you are an idiot. He isn't used to expression much, I think. _

I calmed down enough for him to begin leading me down a corridor. Apparently we were not going very far. When we arrived at the room he opened the door and it looked like an old storage. There were stacks of paperwork, and dust everywhere, but it looked like there was some space cleared out for us. I thought and unlike most people I do not have internal monologue nine times out of ten.

"Oh storage closet, never done it here before!" I said aloud before my hand slapped itself across my mouth. I slowly turned to see Neji starring at me.

"Do what?" he asked flatly.

"Take a test," I quickly said, hoping to save from that stupid comment.

"Really," he said raising an eyebrow.

"Just leave the door open please," I said while walking in, "It is safer that way, I am clumsy. If this stuff falls, you need a way out."

"I will keep that in mind," he said before walking in after me.

* * *

**River: **Okay chapter two is up and I hope you like it. I have been focusing on my other stories and I am sorry that it took so long before I posted this chapter up. I also hate to inform you that it may take a while before my next chapter is up because of some real life problems, but I will update as soon as possible.


	3. Chapter 3: Hai, Sensei

After Neji walked in behind me I was a nervous wreck. I tried to keep myself calm with slow, deep breaths. I closed my eyes for a moment and stopped in the middle of the room. Neji then cleared his throat.

"So I will test you with genjutsu, taijutsu, and ninjutsu," he said, "Be prepared."

_Hands off, do not molest him. Think of him as jail bait, oh that doesn't help. Perfect, willing to go to jail, if that is illegal here, and hell. _

I squeaked,"Yes."

"Turn around," he said calmly.

I slowly turned around to find him lunging at me. My mind froze for a second while his hand closed the space between us. I felt a sharp pain in my abdomen as I doubled over and coughed. I wasn't ready for this but doubt he would stop. I looked up to see Neji spinning around and holding his elbow out to sideswipe me in the face. I quickly brought up my hands to defend myself. I wasn't as strong as he was, but I was surprisingly quick. My body was shifted towards the left as I quickly used the force to help me aim a kick to his ribs. He then used his right arm and crossed it under his left to block my kick and grab my leg.

I knew he was going to try and flip me as he shifted his weight. I quickly preformed the rat and the snake hand seals, "Magen: Narakumi no Jutsu*."

This caused him to drop my leg and begin to preform the hand seal for the release. I brought down my leg and placed it in front of me as I used my fist and pushed my weight into a punch aimed at his abdomen. Personally I wouldn't want to hurt him but this was a test. I couldn't fail and have my sis Yuki laughing at me but I knew she would have had some of her own problems. What was worse is that we were facing people with Kekkei Genkai*. Hopefully they wouldn't use them or we would be fucked.

As my punch came into close quarters Neji had already dispelled the jutsu and weaved around my hand. He then used one of his palms to thrust upwards towards my face. I wasn't fast enough for it and his hand collided with my nose. I felt a crunch before I stumbled back and brought my hand up to my face. He didn't even waste time before he stepped forward and used the other one to thrust towards my abdomen. He was bound and determined to knock me flat on my ass. I quickly preformed the hand seals for Kawarimi no Jutsu*. A large cloud of smoke appeared and some of the files were replaced with my body.

I had transported myself behind Neji and quickly opened my kunai pouch and produced two of them. I tumbled back and threw one at his back. Unfortunately he effortlessly caught it and threw it back at me as he turned around. I used my second kunai to deflect my first one. They collided in mid air and fell to the ground. I knew I was in a losing battle when I saw his hands begin to get this strange aura around them. Next thing I knew I was blacked out. I woke up and he was standing over me with a blank look on his face. I tried to get up by my entire body was screaming in pain. I winced and forced myself to slowly get up and stand.

I was wobbly and had to lean against a wall that was behind me as he quietly moved out of the doorway of the room we were using and started making his way back to Tsunade's office. I struggled to keep up with him, using the wall as a brace. After what seemed to take forever we arrived at her office. Yuki and Shikimaru were already there and she looked a bit worse for wear herself. As Tsunade saw both of us enter the room she rose from her chair.

"So how did she do?" Tsunade asked.

"She was capable of preforming all three types of jutsu, but she is clumsy on her execution, bad at timing, a bit slow with countering and dodging ," said Neji, "She also needs to work on her aim."

"Is that so?" said Tsunade.

I was hoping to hear Shikimaru's evaluation of Yuki but apparently they had been standing there for a while. I waited on Tsunade to tell me that I had failed with the bad report I got from Neji, but I tried to cheer myself up by telling myself he was a Chunin and experienced while I was just barely a student. Though I still wanted to crawl into a dark hole somewhere and die of humiliation.

"Well considering that it was only a short time that both of you have entered the Academy and you are both capable of grasping the skill quickly, I suppose that I should allow you to become Genin," she said.

I couldn't contain myself and jumped for joy before my body screamed at me again. I bent over and covered my ribs, knowing they were at least bruised in some way. Tsunade then came over and scanned both of our bodies for injuries. Surprisingly we only had bumps and bruises and that told me that neither of them were fighting us, and that made me upset. I supposed I should have considered myself lucky that they didn't, but being beaten by someone not going all out on us was humiliating. Next thing I knew Yuki was hugging the life out of me!

"Air!" I kept gasping until she let me go, "...evil..."

"We are officially Nin!" she said bouncing up and down.

Then it donned on me to ask her how her little test was with Shikimaru. After we grabbed our new forehead protectors, I turned and headed out of the door with her close to my heels, when I was sure that we were out of earshot of the others, since they stayed behind to talk to Tsunade, I began to whisper to her.

"So how was your date?" I asked her.

"It wasn't a date," she hissed through her teeth.

"So did the Nara use his shadow stuff on you?" I asked before giggling.

"That is none of your business!" she said while swatting at me.

I burst out into a full laugh before ducking out the doors into the hallway. She followed me and had a sly look on her face.

"So did you and Neji..."she began to ask.

"Do what?" I said pretending to act stupid.

"You know what I mean!" she said stomping.

"Yes, we were in a closet alone, and he kicked my ass, or are the bruises not evidence enough," I said rolling my eyes.

"I knew you liked it rough," she said,"and don't lie to me, you came back with a nosebleed. Was it that hot?"

I turned three shades of red, because as soon as she said that both Neji and Shikamaru had just walked out of Tsunade's office. Neji blushed slightly and Shikamaru rolled his eyes. There was no way I was going to pass this payback opportunity. I transformed into her using ninjutsu and began to dance around. I saw she had a confused look on her face so I turned her around so she could see Shikamaru, then I decided to be really mean.

"Sticks and stones may break my bones, but Shikamaru excites me, so pin me down and beat me up and show me how you like me," I said in a sing song voice while dancing.

She stood rigid and slowly turned. Both Shikamaru and Neji's jaw dropped at my display, since I danced a bit adding a butt smack to her image at 'show me how you like me.' She turned pink, then red, then purple as she stomped at the ground and prepared for war. I felt the death glare and aura around her and told the guys bye before taking off down the hallway giggling, and running fast as my bruised self could carry me. I didn't get far though, within three steps she had already pounced on me and began wailing on my skull with one fist while trying to choke me out with the other. I grabbed her hand and flipped her off me, if I wasn't laughing so hard it might have hurt. After getting her off me I ran behind the boys and grabbed Shikamaru and used him as a meat shield. She got up and was after me before she skidded to a halt.

"You better not sleep tonight," she said in a low voice.

"Aye, aye captain!" I said, "No sleep or death awaits me. So what are you two doing tonight?"

"Huh?" they both asked.

"Well I mean, aside from using you two as ammo against one another for teasing purposes, I was wondering if you were free. I would like to be shown around the village by someone not in a mask and be shown something other than training areas," I said while still hugging Shikimaru.

"Hinata-sama needs me to pick a few things up for her this evening, and I have to go prepare for a mission," said Neji before walking away.

"I am busy," said Shikimaru before prying me off him.

"Aww," I said, "Hey maybe one of the others can show us around."

Yuki walked off with clouds over her head, more than likely plotting against me. It was around three when we were out of the Hokage's office and in the streets. I started heading towards some of the shopping areas when we bumped into Ino and Choji. I waved at them and got their attention. They turned around and looked at us in confusion. I ran up and asked them what they were up to. They told us they were meeting Asuma and Shikamaru at the barbecue place. Opting out, outright stalking the Nara, I chatted with them for a few moments before waving goodbye to them and heading towards the park. When we got there we saw Hana and Kiba Inuzuka playing with their dog nin. Akimaru was the first to notice us as he turned around and barked at us. This caused the other two to look up.

"Akimaru!" I called before bending over.

The dog nin ran over to me and sat down just out of arms reach. I slowly put my hand near his nose before he sniffed at it. He then began to let both me and Yuki pet him while Kiba made his way over to us.

"Akimaru, what did I say about females?" said Kiba, "Sorry he loves girls."

I whispered to Yuki, "Can we say chick magnet?"

Yuki giggled and Akimaru made this noise similar to laughing. I suppose he was smart enough to understand what we were saying, but I hopped that Kiba didn't hear us.

"So what are you doing here Kiba?" asked Yuki.

"Oh Hana is taking a break from her clinic and I decided to come here and spend some time with her," he said.

"Oh we are officially ninja now!" I said grinning.

"Who did you bribe?" he asked.

"No one but Neji kicked my ass so hard!" I said rubbing my ass to emphasize it.

He chuckled, "I am surprised he didn't kill you."

"Me too, he didn't seem to happy about giving the Academy test to me, though it was more or less a spar," I said, "Maybe he is overworked or something...wait...never mind."

" overworked?" said Kiba sarcastically.

"I know right," said Yuki, "So is there anyway I can come by the veterinarian clinic?"

"Sure," said Kiba, "Volunteers are always welcome. You like animals?"

"Oh yeah, she loves them!" I said, "The wilder, the better!"

Yuki elbowed me in the ribs, "Yes, I do. Dogs are my favorite animal, other than big cats."

"Really," he said sounding amused,"What about you."

"Fluffy things are my thing," I said, "Speaking of...can I pet your hair?"

I wanted to mentally slap myself._ Internal monologue Kori!_

"What?" he said taken back.

"Nothing!" I blurted out.

"Sorry like she said, fluffy things make her world go round. She is harmless, it is just your hair looks fluffy and she has a thing with hair," said Yuki.

I narrowed my eyes at her.

"Okay," he said slowly.

I then brushed the top of his spiky hair for a second before darting away.

"Um, I am not going to bite," said Kiba.

"But she likes that," said Yuki, payback for what I did to her.

I turned various shades of pink and hid myself behind her before she started to giggle. I then decided to randomly climb a nearby tree to escape for the moment as I then decided where I was going to tie my new protector. I tried many times to wrap it around my forehead, but my hair seemed to be getting in the way. Since our stay in Konoha, I hadn't had my hair cut so it was about to my shoulders. I got frustrated and then tied the black and silver thing around my right thigh. I then sat down and watched as Yuki talked and flirted with Kiba. After getting hungry I called out to her that playtime was over and that caused her to throw a nearby rock at me causing me to fall out of the tree. To my surprise I landed like a cat and got up walking back towards our apartment. There we decided on making some stir-fry. When we made our plates and sat down I looked at her while eating.

"Yuki, since we are genin, don't we have to make teams? Have you ever seen a team with more than one girl?" I asked her.

She swallowed a bite of her food,"Not really, I mean why would Tsunade separate us?"

"I don't know, you think we can request that?" I asked.

"Well we are the only two graduates right now, so I guess she can't," Yuki idly said.

"Don't jinx us! Bad luck!" I snapped.

After dinner we went to sleep, the next morning we were visited by someone other than Iruka.

"Wake up!" said someone in a mask.

"ANBU should learn to knock," I said raising up and rubbing my eyes.

I knew if Iruka was willing to flip me out of bed, no telling what a vicious ANBU would do.

So I got out of bed and began making the usual breakfast. Before I was finished there was a large crash coming from Yuki's room and the ANBU retreated out ducking his head while a kunai whizzed past his ear.

"Yeah, she is grouchier than I am waking her up," I said, "You didn't try and touch her did you?"

After her tea and breakfast was made I walked past the eagle masked ANBU and quietly stepped in.

"Yuki, wake up, I have your tea and breakfast waiting," I said in a soothing voice, next thing I knew this demonic growl came from her bedsheets, "Oi! No growling, or I will tell Kiba-kun that you do that!"

She picked up something next to her and flung it in my direction, I narrowly dodged whatever it was and turned on her light, this caused her to rise up out of bed looking like Cousin It from Addams Family, only pink. I bit my lip to keep from laughing as I handed her, her things and made my way out to my room to get dressed. After getting dressed I was back in the kitchen eating my breakfast and drinking coffee. Five minutes later she came out looking chipper and almost had rainbows floating over my head. I shuddered and went back to breakfast. The ANBU gave Yuki a message before poofing out of our flat. She read it.

"Our team has been set up and we haven't been separated. It looks like someone named Hayama Shirakuma is our sensei and our other team mate is Tanzo. He failed the Chunin Exam last year with his team mates and it looks like they are regrouping some of them this year. We are to meet them in Training Ground Six in ten minutes," she read.

I downed the last of my breakfast and we headed off to the training grounds. We arrived two minutes late only because my boots came untied and I had to stop and retrieve my shoe from a tree root. Both of them were there. Hayama cleared his throat and walked up to both of us.

"A ninja should never be late," he said darkly, "lives are on the line."

I kept my mouth shut because I knew that pissing off the teacher first day was not going to go well for me. I just nodded my head and stepped to the side.

"Alright," he continued, "We are going to introduce ourselves. I am Shirakumo Hayama, I am a jonin, my element is Fūton*. I really don't want you to know my wants or dreams since I doubt you will live long enough to see them."

"Charmer," I said, "Name's Kori, element is Suiton, I am a genin of course, I like fish and being myself, and I want my memories to return, and my dream is to be an awesome ninja!"

"Among other things, I hear you talk in your sleep," said Yuki, "Name is Yuki, my sister is Kori, my element is Futon, I want to become a chunin, and my dream is to become a teacher."

"Shut it, and I know why you want to become a teacher," I said slyly.

"My name is Tanzo, my element is a surprise, I want to pass the chunin exams and my dream is to become ANBU one day," said Tanzo.

After we were introduced Hayama decided to run us through some drills to test our abilities. Nothing more than running, jumping, climbing trees, avoiding traps, and other stuff, but by the end of it both me and Yuki were exhausted. Tanzo decided he would poke a bit of fun at us. We looked at one another, then looked at him, then we decked him at the same time. After he picked himself up off the ground sensei just sighed and looked at us while shaking his head. He then told us that we would be doing some missions around the village for the most part and if we were patient we may go on some that were outside of the village. Both Yuki and I crossed our fingers, we couldn't wait for our missions to begin.

* * *

For those not familiar with the Japanese romanji for each of these here is the English Translations.

Magen: Narakumi no Jutsu: Demonic Illusion: Hell Viewing Technique -creates a swirling leaf pattern around the victim before showing them their worst fears. A simple release seal can easily dispel this genjutsu.

Kekki Genkai: bloodline limit. Those who have abilities passed down through blood. Sharingan, Byakugan, and those of the other clans in Konohagure.

Kawarimi no Jutsu: Body Replacement Technique- replaces user with objects lying around, normally in the anime they are replaced with a log no matter where the user is.

Fūton: Wind Release

Suiton: Water Release.

* * *

**River: **so chapter 3 is up and out of the way. I figured I would update this one a bit quicker. After this I am going to skip ahead in the timeline a bit to progress. Don't worry I will get to relationship building either late next chapter or early chapter after that. I mean they have to pass the Chunin Exams soon. I don't want them to wait the whole year and a half before the Chunin Exams, after that, everything hits the fan! So I hope you enjoy the humor. Leave a review if you like it.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or anything associated with it, though I have a Kakashi doll...lol. I write this for a hobby and to make people laugh. Please no trolling or flaming but constructive criticism is welcome.


	4. Chapter 4:First Impressions

Our first mission was to collect this hell bent dog. It always got out of this old lady's house and ran off to the fields to be wild and play. Our job was to track it down and bring it back. Tanzo seemed to know about the dog and he turned white when Hayama mentioned the dogs name.

"So what is so bad about this dog?" I asked Tanzo.

"It hates it when you try and bring it back!" he shuddered, "I heard the last people who tried to round him up ended up in the hospital!"

I rolled my eyes and continued to run across the branches of trees towards the field, "Hey Yuki, they aren't anything that you haven't handled before."

"What?" she asked.

"Ki~ba~kun," I said after getting closer to her.

She blushed and scoffed, "I prefer smarter people."

"Uh-huh, so that is why you spent how many hours flir-" I started to say before I ran into a tree. Well it did serve me right, but I gave her a chance to make fun of me while going ahead, "Hey woman! Get your pink butt back here!"

I was the last one to arrive in the field where the dog was supposed to be. Yuki and Tanzo were already taking cover. I dove into the bushes and waited. Suddenly there was a rustling noise behind me...

**Yuki's POV**

Everything was quiet for the most part. Tanzo had decided to take a look around to see if he could spot any trace of this demonic dog, or so Tanzo said it was. I just nodded to him and continued to look for Kori, who had disappeared. _No telling where she is off to,_ I thought to myself. My questions were answered as Kori jumped from the bushes screaming bloody murder and had some sort of small animal attached to her butt. I had to stifle laughter as saw poetic justice in action. The dog we were sent after was the one attached.

"Well that certainly makes things easier," I muttered to myself when I jumped from the bushes to separate the dog and my sister.

When I did I held up the puppy and it looked so adorable! White fluffy fur that needed to be brushed, cute little lets, big brown eyes, and a cute little yip and growl. I fell in love with it. Kori on the other hand had a kunai out and was ready to begin skinning it. It began growling and struggling as it saw her and I hugged it to my chest and turned away from her.

"No!" I said, "Bad Kori!"

"It...bit...me," she said, trying to bore a hole through me with her eyes.

"So you deserved it!" I said, "Besides we can't kill it! Look how cute...he is!"

"Yeah cute, wait until you feel sharp teeth in your ass!" she said grumbling away.

"Find Tanzo!" I called to her while cuddling the puppy.

**Kori's POV**

That dog was so dead meat when Yuki left it alone. Just two seconds and payback would be sweet. I don't care about the money, I wanted that dog to die. I wasn't going to be sitting down for a while that was for sure. I decided to go look for Tanzo and found him rather quickly. He was haunched over looking at some of the tracks on the ground. I cleared my throat and he jumped a bit before looking at me.

"Found it," I said.

"Really?" he said sounding shocked.

"Yes, me and it were bush buddies, don't ask," I said rubbing my butt.

He followed me to where Yuki was and sure enough he confirmed the identification of the dog. After going back to the village, Hayama was waiting for us and so was the lady. She thanked us and paid before squeezing the dog so tight it couldn't even whimper in pain. Well I wasn't going to kill it, but at least I could smile. I mean I am not cruel to animals, but I did not like this dog. Hayama was surprised when we returned so quickly but after explaining everything he told me that I should get it looked at. On my way to the hospital I ran into Hinata and Kiba.

_Hey, lucky me!_

I ran over to them and waved hello,"Hinata, Kiba!"

They stopped and waved back.

"So what are you heading this way for?" asked Kiba.

"I got bit by a dog," I said.

"Oh really where?" he said raising an eyebrow.

"On the ass, damn thing snuck up on me!" I said clenching my fist. Then I looked at them both, "Hey Hinata, do you have anything I can put on this? And Kiba, would I have to worry about a pet having rabies?"

Kiba was the first to answer, "Not if the owner is for Konoha. Hana has to give every animal that someone wants to keep as a pet all of their shots, otherwise the owner can't keep them within the village limits," he said.

"B-bites? Er, I have something at h-home," she said, "How do you know me?"

"Um, your 'cuz was the one who tested me for my ninja stuff, er, I have already met Kiba, and I have this creepy thing that I automatically know you just by seeing your face," I said, "So butt balm?"

Kiba burst out laughing, "Butt balm?"

"Hey I call it what I want it to be!" I said, "So can you get the butt balm, which is WAY better than butt cream or butt paste, and way way way way better than butt jelly."

Hinata was red,"W-we can go get it now."

"Wait a sec, you say home as in Hyuga Compound?" I said.

"What is wrong with the Hyuga compound?" asked Kiba.

"Nothing!" I squeaked out,"Just a bit intimidating ya know."

"Okay," said Kiba, "Hey want me to come with you?"

"Well that is a bit sick," I said giggling, "I mean if you wanted to see my naked butt, all you had to do was ask!"

Kiba turned red,"That is not what I was implying!"

"I know, but I thought I would try and get a howl out of you, or two," I said scooting away.

Kiba growled at me and lunged. I ducked in time to watch him fly over my head and land on the ground, turn and lunge again. I squeaked and fell backwards and began laughing as he landed on my chest.

"Easy Inuzuka! I was teasing!" I said between laughs, "I know I am a horrible person. Oh wait until Naruto gets back! I have a whole score of things to do to him."

Kiba stopped and looked down at me for a second, "Like what?"

"Oh tease him about this and that," I said putting my hands behind my head, "Though the most fun I could poke would be a touchy subject for the nin. I mean I can't just bring up Sasuke in the fray when I just met him for the first time."

"Do you have a filter for that brain of yours?" he asked.

"Nope, that is my personal defect," I said, "Gets me into more trouble than anything else in the world, even boys."

"Are you sure?" he said grinning, showing his fangs.

"Down boy," I said,"and yes, as a matter-of-fact it most defiantly does. What I think is what you get, not many can handle this shit. Don't like my words, don't like my tone, then turn around and go back home. I may be harsh and I may be cold, but you ain't never seen anyone this bold! I like to dance, and sometimes rhyme, but hell who doesn't like fun from time to time."

"What the hell?" said Kiba.

"Taking a whack at rapping, I guess," I said rolling my eyes, "So are you gonna get off my chest or do I have to make you?"

"Make me," he said leaning down closer.

"Alright, get your big boy breeches on!" I said before tickling him.

He thrashed around enough to where I could kick him off me and get up. After getting up I tried to dart away but he grabbed me by the ankle and pinned me down so he could tickle me. Word of warning I am not responsible for any injury due to tickling me. So after he caused me to laugh so hard I cried, I ended up kicking him in the head.

"Oh my god I am so sorry," I blurted out when he jumped off and rubbed the back of his skull.

"Nah, don't worry about it," he said, "So off to get your butt balm?"

**Yuki's POV**

After sensei told us we could go home and asked Kori to get her butt checked I made my way down to the shopping district. I loved to window shop, but I knew I had to pay rent and couldn't actually get anything until things were squared away. Tsunade was gracious enough to cover our expenses until we were able to get some income as nin. With our first mission a success I needed to start saving up. After walking around for a few hours, I decided to go home. When I got back Kori wasn't at the flat.

"What did they have to keep her overnight?" I said wondering aloud.

A few hours had passed and I started to get worried. When I got frustrated, I began to head for the door when Kori ran full speed through it, into the living room, past me, into her bed room and shut the door. I closed the door behind her and stomped into her room ready to chew her out. I walked in.

"Do you know what time it is!" I yelled at her.

Her face was buried in a pillow and she was curled up into a ball.

"Ooh Avay!" she said, muffled by the pillow.

"Where were you!" I continued on with my rant.

"Orst Ay o Ife!" she said.

"If you think that acting like a child will get you out of trouble you have another thing coming!" I said.

Kori rose up and uncovered her eyes from the pillow. They were red and swollen, no doubt she had been crying but I don't recall her every crying not once. Even when we went through painful things such as getting stabbed, falling, drilled by sensei, or any of the rehab we had to go through. Something was wrong. I rushed over to her and hugged her.

"What happend?" I asked calmly, ready to kill who did this.

She uncovered her mouth, "More of a who, what, when, where, how thing."

"Tell," I said.

-Flashback-

**Kori's POV**

We had arrived at the Hyuga Compound and it was huge! I mean if I had not have kept up with Hinata I would have gotten lost before I made it to the front door. I wasn't a straight forward person when it came to traveling. I stopped to smell the flowers, hid in the bushes when a servant walked by, and had to hum Mission Impossible, which I don't know where that came from, but I did. By the time we reached to door, Hinata and Kiba probably thought I was crazy. Hinata opened the door, announced herself, and asked me to follow her.

"Try not to get in trouble," she said quietly, "And please for the love of god, don't speak unless spoken to!"

"Okay, and filter the language, got it!" I said snapping my fingers together.

A servant walked by us and asked us if we needed anything and I just shook my head no and bit my lip. I wanted to be invited back here. As we walked along the corridors I noticed the walls were a simple beige or white with a dark cherry trim. A few beautiful pictures hung along the wall, some were of cranes, some of sakura trees, some of warriors clashing, and all of them were beautiful ink paintings. _Sai, eat your heart out, who the fuck is Sai? _Along the wall, between the paintings were white and blue vases, I kept in the middle of the hall and hand my hands on Hinata as soon as I saw them.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"Me plus breakables equals large bill I will have to pay. Do not mind me, I am saving you from a mess," I said keeping my head down.

"O-okay," she said and continued walking towards her room.

I thought was doing well until something grabbed me! I screamed like a little girl and started to fight back. Suddenly I felt something hit my back and my legs gave out and I fell to the floor backwards. I looked up at the thing and there was Hanabi Hyuga starring at me smiling. I bit my lip from telling her off, maybe she wasn't evil or something.

"Ha-hanabi!" said Hinata, "She is a guest!"

"But she was grabbing you and forcing you to walk her through here!" said Hanabi.

"Then why would K-kiba-kun be, behind us?" asked Hinata.

"You mean that boy?" said Hanabi before darting off.

"Floor, feet, no feeling," I said as I was picked up off the floor, "I just got owned by a seven year old."

"Don't worry Hanabi only wants to protect the family," said Hinata helping me off the floor.

"Well she could go protect somewhere far away from me. Ah by the way do you have scissors?" I asked.

"In my room," she said as she lead me there.

After being shown in I sat down on her bed to make sure I was out of the way. After she found the items she handed me them and I took some of my hair and began cutting it. Hinata gasped.

"Wh-why are you cutting your hair?" she said trying to stop me.

"Look honey, I don't want to be confused as you one day, and plus, long hair is a pain to take care of," I said holding up a lock of hair that looked like it was a dread, "See, I keep my hair clean and brushed and it still dreads on its own, and I look cute with short hair."

I cut the sides into a uneven layered look, the left side of my face had a longer side strand that kept the original length of hair, while the right side was cut just under my jawline. I then used a mirror and cut the top and back of my hair so it would be spikey and easy to fix when I needed an on-the-go look. Hinata then helped me finish the very back of it. After my hair was done, we gathered up the hair and threw it away. Then I proceeded to ask her where the bathroom was so I could apply the bite ointment.

"Two doors down on your left," she said.

" 'kay," I told her as I made my way down.

Walking down the hall I decided to look at some of the art work, getting distracted. After a few moments I counted the doors and opened up the second one, or so I thought, turned around, shut the door, and dropped my shorts. I opened the ointment and was beginning to apply it when I heard something behind me. I turned around to find Neji, starring at me, pants less. I freaked. I yanked up my shorts, ran out of the compound and straight home.

-End flashback-

"I mooned him!" I sobbed.

"Oh honey," said Yuki trying to soothe me.

There was a knock at the door and Yuki had to leave. I fixed my face just in case it was Tanzo or Hayama, and I didn't want them giving me a hard time about it. I got out of bed and walked towards the kitchen. As I rounded the corner I heard a familiar voice and peeked around the corner. Sure enough Neji was there. _Go away, I am humiliated enough!_

Then I heard the traitor speak, "Yeah my sis is here. Hey Kori!"

"She lies!" I yelled and then face palmed myself.

I then walked out of the hallway and just far enough so that Neji could see me. I could barely look up at him. I shifted in my spot and picked a spot on the wall. Suddenly there were hushed voices and Neji, Hinata, and Kiba entered the flat. I stepped back.

"Yo," said Kiba, "Neji told me what happened!"

"Yeah so what, all you would have done was howled!" I snapped, "Now Yuki what in the Nine Hells did you say I was here. If this day wasn't bad...nope not saying it."

"I think you should apologize," said Neji.

"Okay sorry for barging into your room because I need a map to get through your house, then mooning you," I said quickly.

"Kori!" snapped Yuki, "You can do better than that!"

"No I can't," I said rasing the pitch of my voice, "And you know why."

"What?" said Neji, "Care to explain?"

Yuki smiled and inhaled deeply and I pounced on her,"Death to you if you think it woman!"

Yuki only giggled under my hand, "Okay."

"Don't seek him out later to tell him, or I know a certain ninja that would LOVE hearing something about you!" I threatened.

"You wouldn't," she hissed.

"Try me," I replied.

Our stare down was interrupted by a Kiba pouncing on my back. I hit the floor with a loud thud. I just layed there for a minute trying to decide if it was wise to try and kill the dog nin, who had loads of more experience at being a ninja. Aside from my face being smashed into the floor, it wasn't so bad. Well, I wasn't going to kill him, it would turn out bad, but I wasn't going to let him get away with it either. So I picked up my face from the floor so I was able to be heard by the others.

"So Kiba, if you wanted my body all you had to do was ask," I said, "Now do I have to tell you to get off or are you going to stay?"

I couldn't tell if I did anything or not, but I felt the weight instantly be relieved. Then there was a loud crash and Yuki and Kiba were locked in some form of wrestling match. I couldn't help myself.

"Um, Yuki?" I started, "If you don't stop now, I will have to splash cold water on you two."

That is when Kiba pinned Yuki on the ground, "It isn't my fault she jumped me!"

I went over to the sink and filled a glass up with cold water and went behind Kiba and poured it over his head, "Down boy or no treats for you. No, stop it, bad Kiba, I will scream rape!"

He didn't take being drenched to well and neither did Yuki. Both were trying to circle around me and tag team me into some submission, or worse, tickle me. I darted between the Hyugas, hoping to save myself. Hinata decided that she was going to join in on the fun and pounced me, putting me into an arm bar. I was screwed. The next thing I knew Yuki and Kiba were tickling me.

"Stop! Stop!" I screamed between giggles, "Uncle! I give! I give, you win! Help!"

Finally Yuki stopped and she high fived Kiba for the successful tag team, she even gave Hinata a hug for helping her out. After getting up I looked at Hinata.

"It is always the quiet ones you have to watch!" I said pointing my finger at her before laughing.

"Yes," she said quietly.

"Oh" I said turning to Neji, "I do apologize for mistaking your room for a bathroom. I mean I haven't been there before but I shouldn't have gotten distracted. So, er, yeah."

"Apology accepted," he said nodding.

"So you will forget the whole thing and not think I am an idiot?" I asked looking away from him.

"No that image will be burned into his mind. It is the closest thing he has gotten to second base," teased Kiba.

I punched Kiba in the arm, "Neji has had plenty of dates..oops. I mean, not that I would know. Honest. I just know about your skills as shinobi and I am going to shut up now, go back to my room, pick a dark corner, and die of humiliation now."

"What she means to say is that she thinks that you are hot Neji," chimed in Yuki.

I could have killed her! Neji was taken back by the whole thing and I turned so many shades of red, I was pretty sure it was a new shade. I just covered my hands over my face and walked away mumbling to myself. Though it was loud enough for Kiba to hear and he fell down to the floor laughing. Neji asked what I had said and I tackled Kiba.

"Do not repeat!" I begged.

"So how are you going to bribe me?" he said grinning.

"I can find dirt on you, I can lie, cheat, steal, create, and do all sorts of things to make sure you have a dateless life, I swear to it, or something worse than that. Wonder what it was like for Naruto when he was a kid? I can make you feel double that," I threatened.

"She said that she will never be able to ask you out on a date and you now think she is a wierd nut case that should stay the hell away from you," blurted Kiba.

"Ass," I said before stomping on his foot and running into my room, locking the door.

**Yuki POV**

After Kori left, I knew I would have to pry her out of the room in the morning. I looked at Kiba and he smiled.

"Kiba, you are cute, but not that cute," I said forming my hand into a fist, "Three seconds before I kill you for hurting my sister."

"Bye!" said Kiba before running out of the flat.

"I should go, father is expecting us back soon," said Hinata.

"Sure, um though I would like to speak with Neji for a sec," I told them.

"Sure," said Hinata before walking out.

"I don't suppose this is about what just happened?" he asked, looking like he was hoping I would say no.

"Yes, and no," I told him, "Look, she has liked you for a while. It maybe a crush and when she does crush, she gets a bit eccentric. She is sweet and really great, so please don't let this awkward first impression ruin it. I am sure after she gets out of her depression, with a good beating, she will try and talk to you again. It has been a weird day. So I will see you around, as for her, ice cream, chocolate, and time will get her out of the rut. It was fun, and please understand she isn't used to social situations. She wasn't really liked by kids when she was younger, so if things get weird, she means well she just doesn't know how to act."

"I will try to keep that in mind," he replied before walking out of the door.

Well I hoped that would help patch the weird that happened, and if I knew Kori she would be better in a few days, or until something distracted her. Neji, on the other hand, I just prayed he didn't take first impressions as seriously as he used to. God knows this wasn't her best day. I could feel a few headaches and a lot of stress coming from this incident. I sighed and knocked on Kori's door to make sure she was alright before heading to sleep. Hopefully things would get better.

* * *

**River: **So I got the awkward out of the way. Kidna wanted something new other than boy meets girl crap, not saying that others writing are crap but same thing different day drives me nuts. Besides if I had Kori and Yuki meet, greet, and do everything the same that would be way boring!

So yeah chapter 4 is here, going to probably do something with Shika and Yuki next chapter.

If you like it, love it, see something that could make it better, please review.

No stealing, flammers, or trolls. I know this is the net and freedom of expression but it is also interacting with others, and if you don't respect others then I feel sorry for you. This is not the way you should act if you want to go anywhere in life, nuff about that subject. As for the thieves, I will hunt you down somehow and feet you to piranhas, or maybe a wood chipper, or something of the like. It all depends on how I am feeling. Loves!


	5. Chapter 5: Flowers, Games, and Dates

**Yuki's POV**

It was two weeks after Kori's incident and she was busying herself with anything she could to get her mind off of it. Hayama was training us to the point of breaking and I was ready to snap. Training for us was going well, both Kori and I had learned some ninjutsu and a few taijustu moves, but I needed a break. We had just finished our mission when I decided to head off to the shopping district for some much needed civilian clothing. Neither Kori or I had anything really, and we were making enough between the both of us to keep our flat and, to Kori's enjoyment, the fridge stocked. I watched from my tree limb that I had chosen to sit, Kori and Tanzo sparring.

Tanzo had more experience but Kori was a fast learner and after a few moments she had Tanzo on the defensive. Kori had taken her taijutsu practice to heart, and got so caught up in it, that she didn't see the wire trap Tanzo had set up. When she was caught, Tanzo jumped out of the snare and preformed hand seals.

"Katon: Ryūka no Jutsu!*" said Tanzo.

Kori started rapidly preforming hand seals of her own to counter, "Suiton: Mizurappa!"

She used the technique to cover the wires in water and put out the flames before they reached her. Taking out a kunai, she cut all the wires around her so that she could move freely. Hayama, was watching them carefully, occasionally shouting instructions to them. Probably to help them out. As for me, I was getting bored. I had already sparred with Kori and beat her, and Hayama wanted me to wait until she and Tanzo were finished with their spar, so I could spar against Tanzo. Watching them I noticed that Tazno was a little weak on his left side when he was defending.

"Kori, left side, low, high," I called down to her.

She picked up on my hint and feigned a low kick before turning it into and elbow to Tanzo's ribcage. This stunned him enough for her to finish her attacks with a thrust to his chest, and a roundhouse kick to bat him away. When Tanzo landed against the tree he was a bit frustrated.

"Hey they cheated," he said.

"Teamwork is essential. Yuki saw a flaw in your defenses and relayed the information to Kori, there was no cheating involved," said Hayama, "You need to work on your left side. Kori you switch out with Yuki. Since you are a Katon user then Yuki is at a disadvantage."

"Okay," I said hopping off the tree limb and setting myself in front of Tanzo, "Let's go."

Tanzo had a smile on his face that looked like he had already won the spar. I just camly took out two kunai and threaded some string through them as I was taking them out. Tanzo tried to hit me with a fireball, but I dodged out of the way and threw the kunai, preforming hand seals after tossing them.

"Fūton: Reppūshō!" I said as I used the wind to buff up the speed of the kunai.

Tanzo dodged out of the way, but he didn't expect me to have strings attached to them. So when he rushed up to me, I jerked the strings and had the kunai fly back. Tanzo barely turned around to deflect the kunai but it was too late, I was already behind him and had him in a arm bar with another kunai in hand pressed against his neck.

"Tanzo," said Kori,"You are too jumpy and you are dead."

"Tanzo I would like you to keep practicing with Kori, Yuki you can go," said Hayama.

"What?" They both said.

"She was able to take out Tanzo even with her being at a disadvantage," said Hayama, "You two need to work on thinking under pressure."

"Have fun sis," called Kori as she stayed around for her lesson.

I found myself wandering in the shopping district of Konoha. While wandering around I ended up spacing out and was snapped out of my daze by Ino.

"What did you come here for?" she asked.

"Hmm?" I am sorry I was thinking.

"Well if you don't need any flowers then just try and stay out of trouble," said Ino as she walked off to help another customer

"Floral shop?" I asked myself.

Well since I was here I should at least try and stay to see if I could find anything out about Shikamaru. Although I didn't want to seem creepy, so I waited until she was finished with the customer and walked up to her.

"Well, my flat is really plain, so I could decorate it. Is there anything I could get to help me pick out some flowers?" I asked.

"We have a catalog, do you want to grow them or have us arrange them for you? Depending on the season some flowers may be short on stock because our greenhouse can only hold so many flowers that are out of season, and you want to match your color scheme to your flat with the flowers. That way they are not being drowned out by the flats colors, nor are they taking away from the other decorations," said Ino.

"I think I will just take the catalog and browse, I will come back after I have decided. Erm, I kinda want to do something nice for my sis," I said biting my lip, hoping the next bit would come out easier, "and I kinda want to talk to you since you know Shikamaru."

"Eh?" she asked, "Your sister needs help and you want to know about Shikamaru?"

"Yeah I kida like him but I want our meeting to be better than my sis's first impression," I told her.

"Oh so it was your sister who flashed Neji Hyuga," she beamed.

"Hey it was an accident!" I said quickly, "Look she has been doing everything possible to forget about the incident and it is driving me crazy. When she isn't killing herself with missions or training, she is sulking so I was thinking...misleading white lie."

"Lying to start something will get you no where," Ino warned.

"No, I just want her to talk to him. I mean last week we were shopping and she saw Neji walk into the store with Hinata after she just changed into an outfit, and she almost bolted out the store!" I told Ino, "After grabbing her I shoved her back into the dressing room. She wouldn't leave the small room until Hinata wanted to try on a shirt. She flipped out and disappeared. I was stuck holding a bunch of clothes and her shoe. It was pathetic to watch as it was interesting to explain to them. So do you see what I mean?"

"Oh well that would be, how Shikamaru puts it, troublesome," said Ino, "Well we have plenty of flowers here, and I can interpret the meaning of them for you. Just pick out some."

I walked around the store, I knew Kori's favorite colors were red, purple, and black, but they didn't have any black flowers around. I saw a couple of pretty looking ones and pointed to them. Ino shook her head.

"Red Carnations, they mean flashy," said Ino.

I gulped, I had just picked the worst flower to present to Kori. Flashy, after she mooned Neji. Oh that would be a disaster. I went over and stayed away from anything red. I also had to stay away from Orchids because they were her favorite flower and she would know if they showed up, I got them for her. I went over to these beautiful pink and white flowers and pointed to them.

"Amaryllis, they mean dramatic," said the blond kunochi.

I was digging deep into the 'never talk to me again' hole. First flashy then dramatic? I let out a frustrated sigh. I then heard a familiar voice behind me. I heard Ino greet them.

"Hey Shikamaru," she said.

I froze for a second then I came up with a plan, "Hey Shikamaru, if you were going to get two people to talk to one another, using flowers. Since one did something memorable, in a bizarre way, which flower would you get?"

"First off, I would never get someone flowers because they are too troublesome to pick out, and they die to quickly. Secondly why are you asking me? Thirdly, why don't you just ask them?" he told me.

"Well the first one is kinda a shut in and the second one is a emotional wreck, and to ask the former question, you are a guy. I need a guys opinion. I am a girl and I would do something sappy. I need to make it look like it was chosen with care but not in a way that I did it," I replied.

"Red poppy, purple delphinium, and white gladiolus," were the only thing he said.

Ino chimed in, "Shikimaru perfect! consolation, boldness, and strength of character. Apologizing and saying she is commendable."

"Well I was asking your opinion," I told Shikamaru.

"I didn't see the point of having a useless conversation about something you are not interested in only for you to ask me which flowers I would pick out if I was in Neji's place," said Shikamaru.

"So are you getting them?" asked Ino.

"Yeah, just deliver them to this address when you are finished, and try not to overly hint that they are from Neji, or me," I said scribbling down the address to our flat.

"South eastern side, interesting, close to where Asuma and I play shogi and go(1)," said Shikamaru.

"So I guess I will be seeing you around more, and I would like it if I could watch you two play," I told him.

Ino saw what I was doing, "Yuki seems like she is a bright girl, she might be able to challenge you."

"Only problem is, I don't know how to play," I said smiling.

"Well, all the more reason you should go," said Ino, practically shoving me into Shikamaru, "Shikamaru I want you to teach her Shoji, since she is being so nice to her sis!"

Shikamaru looked like he was about to protest but he only sighed, "Sure, come on."

When we arrived Asuma had already set up a board for them to play shogi. I carefully watched the two play as Shikamaru explained the rules and how the pieces moved. After he beat Asuma, Shikamaru decided to watch me play against Asuma. It took me a couple of tries to get the hang of the game, but I found out I was pretty good at it. I even forced Asuma into a corner twice. After playing five rounds I won three and Asuma won two. I don't know if Shikamaru was impressed or not but my sixth game he decided to play against me. I was nervous and accidentally made a few mistakes but I quickly covered them up as soon as I could. I wasn't sure how long the game lasted but eventually Shikamaru beat me. Asuma helped us pick up the pieces as they were going to switch the game to go, but I asked for the time and I had to dash back home before Kori killed me!

"Oh snap! I have to go!" I said hearing that the time was nearly five.

"What is the rush?" asked Asuma.

"Dinner isn't cooked and Kori must be worried sick! She is going to kill me!" I said getting up and tripping over Asuma's foot.

Shikamaru and Asuma jumped up and grabbed me, I looked up at Shikamaru, "Thanks, but seriously I have to go. It isn't like Kori is a nut case or anything but we worry about each other ya know. She doesn't know where I am and she is probably ripping her own hair out trying not to send a search party."

"Family," sighed Shikamaru.

"Troublesome," I finished his sentence.

Asuma had apparently looked between us and started laughing, "Well you are always welcome back. I am sure with practice you can beat Shikamaru in no time."

"Count on it," I said waving back before I left.

"I will hold you to it," said Asuma.

I rushed home to find Kori staring at the flowers like they were going to either eat her or explode. The sight was too funny to pass up so I found a camera we bought a few days ago and snapped a picture of her. That brought her out of her daze. When she saw me she leapt at me and I knew she knew they were from me.

I squeaked, "Don't hurt me!"

After she hugged me she backed away, "Why would I hurt you?"

"I am not sure," I lied, "I am late getting home."

"Really, what time is it?" she said looking over at the clock, "Oh, no wonder I am hungry."

"What have you been doing all this time?" I asked her.

"Well after pwning Tanzo a few rounds, Hayama drilled us till we passed out, and then I came home to find Ino of all people knocking at the door. Then she thrusts these into my arms and walks off giggling. After putting them here I wondered if they were from you, so I have been here pondering who they were from," she said.

I wanted to smack her, "Brilliant. Did you not look at the card that came with it? And when do I like purple?"

"So I don't care for white," she said, "There is a card?"

"You haven't gotten flowers before have you?" I asked her.

"Never ever," she sighed before she started digging through the flowers.

"Ack!" I said stopping her, "You will kill them! Here, get dinner started and I will look for one, if there is one."

_Please Yamanaka, let there be a card with anything that may lead to her talking to Neji. Please have remembered that!_ I thought to myself as I looked at the flowers. Sure enough hidden there was a small card with writing on it.

"Found it," I told her,"To the one whom I shall never forget. Let these remind you that I am still thinking of that full moon."

_Ino, really?_ I thought wanting to slap myself for trusting her to pick out something romantic to say to another girl. I heard something hit the ground as I turned to find Kori blushing. She was frozen stiff but I could guess she forced herself into that pose to keep from tearing the flat down. After a minute she found her voice long enough to pierce my ears with a shattering squeal.

"Omigah, are you serious? Neji," she said hugging me so tight I couldn't breathe.

"Not hugging, choking," I gasped as she let me go, "You can't figure out whose flowers they were, why they were here, but from THAT you could guess Neji? What are you smoking?"

"Nothing," she said happily, "No way they could be from Kiba, he is too scarred of you. Plus he wasn't mooned. So um, what should I do?"

"Talk. To. Him," I said hitting her on top of the head.

"Ow!" she said, "First thing tomorrow!"

We started dinner and it started to rain. I wondered if Asuma and Shikamaru had finished playing their game when a knock came at the door. I stopped chopping up veggies and whipped my hands and answered the door. There in the doorway was a soaking wet Shikamaru. I shut my eyes, thanked Kami, and then allowed him in.

"It is pouring!" I told him,"Why were you out there?"

"Asuma took Ino, Choji, and I out for dinner but he had to be called away. Instead of staying I decided to go home but was caught in the rain. So I ended up here to get out of it," he said lazily.

"So?" asked Kori as she winked at me, "Can't let you leave until the rain eases up, you will catch your death, so you are our prisoner until otherwise noted."

"What she means to say in her weird language, is: are you going to stay for dinner?" I asked him.

"Sure," he said, "What is it?"

"Wafu Burgers," I told him,"And a salad. We are mostly vegetarians but we eat lighter meat. Tonight we decided burgers were in order. Both of us had a great day."

Shikamaru eyed the vase sitting on an island that separated the kitchen from the rest of the house, "Oh did you?"

I motioned my hand under my chin meaning 'don't tell'. He caught my drift and began to look for a place to sit.

"Where is your table?" he asked.

"Oh I kept falling on it and busting something on my body, so I broke it," said Kori, "Let me move the flowers and we can use the island."

She moved out of the way so I could take over finishing the burgers as she sat the flowers in her room and returned. By the time she returned dinner was ready and I was already setting out plates. She asked Shikamaru what he wanted to drink and made everyone drinks and fetched the eating utensils. Then she took her side at the far right of the island. Shikamaru made his way over, and Kori forced him in the middle.

"Sorry about that, she is a bit eccentric," I said to him.

"No problem, so is Ino," he replied.

"Worse than a parrot when it comes to gossip," chimed in Kori, "So Shikamaru, after dinner, you will be foreced to watch a comedy or perhaps a movie filled with explosions."

"Translation:Care to stay for a movie if the rain doesn't let up?" I rephrased for Kori.

"It shouldn't last too much longer, and I have to get back," he replied, "Rain check on that though."

"But it is raining!" said Kori.

"Thank you captain obvious!" I said between bites.

After dinner the rain gave a little but I told Shikamaru that he could use my umbrella to get home. Another reason for him to return. After saying his goodbye he left with the umbrella in hand. I shut the door and was in a daze, leaving everything up to Kori as she cleaned the mess left from dinner and hoped into the shower. Two good things happened. First date, to my knowledge, and it was with Shikamaru, plus I had a chance to get Kori to be social again. After Kori go her shower in, I decided to get up and take mine. After the shower we both stayed up talking about our ninja crushes before heading off to sleep.

* * *

Jutsu (taken from Naruto Wiki):

1. Fire Release: Dragon Fire Technique: The user breathes fire along a cord or any other type of long object, which rushes forward in straight line catching the enemy on fire

2. Water Release: Violent Water Wave: Water gushes out from the mouth like a waterfall and washes away the enemy. One can freely control the power of this technique with the amount chakra one releases.

3. Wind Release: Violent Wind Palm: A simple technique that when the users hands are clapped together, wind is compressed and transformed into a powerful gale. The jutsu used as an isolated attack has the power to easily knock over a human. Though the true value comes from using it together with projectile weapons like shuriken or kunai. Their speed, power, and ability to wound or even kill are all increased several times.

* * *

1 Shogi- It is Japanese chess, similar to the way we play Western Style chess but with differences. I tried it once and I sucked. Wiki has some information about all the pieces and how they move, along with rules. If you are curious check it out.

Go- Chineese origion, it is a point based territory capturing game. Complicated too play, but rules are simple to follow. Think of the pieces like army men, and the board like land. You and your opponent try to grab as much land as you can without being 'killed off' by the opponent. Though once peices hit the board they can't be moved. If you want to google it, there is some info on it, and there is also an anime based around the game "Hikaru no Go".

* * *

**River: **So here is Yuki and Shikamaru's chapter of their first impressions, heck she even got a date out of it.

**Ashuri: **I should I am older! Kori can't date until I get one.

**Kori:** No fair! She gets to date and I don't!

**River:** Cool it or I make luck go south for a chapter.

**Both: **Yes.

**River: **I don't own Naruto or anything affiliated with it. I do won Kori and Yuki however, yay me. I don't want anyone stealing. This is my hard work. So if you do steal it, I have placed exploding tags around it so that when you do try and steal it, it will make your computer blow up.

Love it, see something that needs to be improved, leave a review.


	6. Chapter 6: Second Opinion

**Kori POV**

The flowers were awesome, but something didn't feel right. After me avoiding Neji after my little incident, I thought he wouldn't want to talk to me, least of all send me flowers. As I rolled around on the bed mulling it over, I looked at the clock, seven in the morning. I decided to get up and begin to get everything together. When I was cooking breakfast, Yuki had woken up and bounced her way into the kitchen. She was in an usually good mood but I couldn't blame her, she had dinner with a hot shinobi. She was in a daze when she bumped into me, almost causing me to spill the pancake batter that I was using to make breakfast.

"Woah there girl scout!" I said tilting the bowel before any spilled,"You didn't even get a kiss."

"But he is so cool," she sighed, before jumping on me, "You have to help me learn Shoji!"

"Sho-gee?" I asked her while flipping a pancake.

"Chess," she said.

My head hurt for a moment before something came back to me. I used to play chess a lot with my uncle, though I wasn't any good at it, well to me anyway. He used to beat me every time and I would get so mad, but then I would play against my brother and I could win sometimes. Then he introduced us to Chinese checkers, and I was awesome at that game.

"We have a brother and an uncle," I told Yuki.

"You remember somethin?" she said.

"Yeah, I suck at chess," I said getting the pan-, well not a cake more like a mount of fluff, out of the pan.

"How come I don't remember playing?" she asked me.

"You weren't there.I don't know, maybe you were visiting mom or dad at the time," I said adding more batter to the pan.

"Well we know that we have a family, do you know our last name?" she asked me as I managed to burn this pancake.

"No, maybe later," I said finally managing to make a couple of decent pancakes, "Yours are ready."

During breakfast we tried to jog memories but the only thing that we could remember is that she had a few dogs while I had a couple of cats, she used to take me to school, she loved math while I loved art, and that we were really close though some vague memories she had, we didn't share. After breakfast I cleaned up while she was in the shower. When I was finished, I went to see if the flowers needed any water. The vase was about half full and I decided to take out one of the poppies and press them in one of the books that I had. When Yuki finished her shower I took mine and we headed out the door when we were ready. Not long after we shut the door Hayama was in front of us, telling us we had the day off because he had a mission to take care of.

"Well that is just great," I huffed,"Scary that he knows when we wake up. Well since no training, I am going back to bed."

"But, shopping?" said Yuki with a pout.

"No!" I said trying to fight her look, "Not the puppy eyes, NO...fine."

"Yay!" she jumped up and ran back inside to get our wallets.

After coming back out we headed off to the shopping district. We used the money we had saved up to buy some casual clothes. We got found a shop that had some really amazing clothes, and when we bought them, we changed into them and put our shinobi gear in our bags. I had a black and white shirt with a design on the front, and it could be buckled at the neck to fit like a choker, it was short sleeve but had arm warmers that went from above the shoulder to the back of the hand and was styled similar to the shirt. my pants were two shades of purple and black. The right side fitted higher than the left side and had a lighter purple on it that matched a honeycomb design at the bottom of the left leg, while the darker purple extended down the right side of the leg, which both flared out around my ankles. I chose some boots that were black and had purple roses where you laced them on the side and a bird was embroidered along the other side of them. Yuki wore a long sleeved shirt that could double as a jacket, it had a hood that could be fitted on the head or laid down, the sleeves billowed out and hid her hands, while the bottom was cut so a small gap came between the fabric and it had a shortened zipper, the back had black lace ruffles sewn into the fabric to make it more 'girly' as I called it and there were pink ribbons that snaked along the bottom of the sleeves and the bottom of the shirt. Her pants were tight fitting and black with hot pink lines along the hips, legs, joined around the knees and then went down to the hem of the pants, which also flared a little. She chose some pink sneakers that had a bit of height to them so that the pants wouldn't drag along the ground, and they had a sakura design on them that the top most petal was a light pink while the bottom was a red.

It was around lunch time when we finished shopping so we decided to eat at Yakiniku Q for lunch and ran into Hinata, Kiba, and Shino. It was Kiba's turn to pick where they went out to eat that week. Since they just arrived Yuki decided it was a good idea to sit with them, though Kiba didn't like the idea.

"Those two are crazy!" he said.

"What is wrong? Afraid you will be manhandled by a midget?" I said before getting an elbow to the ribs.

"I am NOT a midget!" said Yuki, "Besides isn't there something you want to talk about with Hinata?"

"Oh don't you mind ninja me!" I said through my teeth, "There is plenty of time to discuss that."

"Chicken," said Yuki flatly.

"So?" I said trying to brush it off.

"What is it, you want to talk about?" asked Hinata quietly.

"Oh just your cousin," Yuki busted out.

"I will kill you," I hissed in her ear.

"I love you to sis," she smiled back at me.

"Erm, is he scarred for life?" I said looking away from Hinata.

"No, he seems to have forgotten about it actually," said Hinata.

"Really?" I asked her, "Is he around?"

"No he is on a mission right n-now," she said.

"Is that so," I said eyes locking with Yuki,"Do you know when he will be back? There is something I must ask him."

"Tonight or tomorrow I suppose," said Hinata.

"Perfect," I said clicking my tongue.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" asked Yuki.

"Oh nothing, you have something on your shoulder," I lied.

She jumped a bit, more of a surprise that something would be on her than her being afraid. After she brushed the fake object off her she and I sat down with everyone and had lunch. I kept to myself until Yuki forced me to sit next to Shino and Hinata. I kept hearing a buzzing noise and something donned on me that Shino kept bugs in his body. I began to get a creepy vibe and looked at him and paled.

"What," said Shino flatly.

"Your bugs, um do you cultivate spiders?" I asked him inching away.

"No, I cultivate flying incests. I do not cultivate spiders, however I can call upon them if I need thier assistance," he said.

"So you are not filled with spiders?" I asked weakly.

"Correct," he said returning to his meal.

"You are too close!" came a yelp before I found myself laying on Hinata.

"Oh mi gah! I am sorry!" I said jumping up and helping her, "I just don't like...spiders."

"So you are afraid of something," said Kiba.

"Tell that to anyone you mutt I swear, on whatever I can, that you will find yourself with fleas," I warned him.

"You and what army?" he asked smirking.

"Shino," I beamed.

"Explain," said both Kiba and Shino.

I began whispering some jokes into his ear and telling him I would tell them all if he co-operated. I could feel Shino holding back a laugh before he cleared his throat and settled down.

"She has a point," was the only thing he said after that.

After that we ate and kept the conversations light, though Yuki kept asking a whole lot of things about hinata and her family, more specifically Neji. I had was told a few things about him and some that I didn't know, such as his favorite color and hobbies. Though by the end of the whole ordeal I was literally trying to kill Yuki with my mind because she knew I was embarrassed to talk about it. When we were finished eating Yuki had offered, though in my opinion forced, us to walk Hinata home. We said our goodbyes to Kiba and Shino and made our way back to the Hyuga compound. I dreaded going back over there, though I didn't have any injuries this time and I probably wouldn't be so distracted by the compound to forget where I was going.

As we walked through the gates a familar face caught my eye, Hanabi was out walking with Hiashi. I then placed myself between Hinata and the line of sight of Hanabi as much as I could. Unfortunatly before we could go any farther, Hiashi called all of us over. When we got there both Yuki and I bowed and introduced ourselves.

"Hi, Hi-Mr. Hyuga," I said, "Hanabi."

"Hello, I am Yuki, this is Kori my sis," she bowed, "Nice to meet you."

"So this is the one I have heard about," said Hiashi.

I looked up and curtained my eyes with my hair as much as possible to hide the blush, "Nothing bad I hope."

"No," he said, "Hinata told me of your arrival in the village and you are going to become shinobi. She has also told us a great deal about you as well."

"Oh lord," said Yuki under her breath.

"Has, um, er, Neji said anything?" I said biting my lip.

"You can ask him yourself. Here he comes," he said.

I mentally slapped myself as Yuki grabbed my arm to keep me locked in place and swung my body around to meet Neji, who was behind me for some reason. I looked at him and stumbled backward, almost crashing into Hiashi. Neji quickly grabbed me and kept me from falling.

"You should be more careful, you are still too shaky on your feet," he said coolly.

"I keep that in mind," I squeaked looking away.

I then was jabbed in the shoulder by Yuki before she spoke, "Kori, isn't there something you want to say to him?"

"Right," I said almost jumping, "I was curious of what you said to your uncle about me, that is all."

I knew I was blushing and if anymore blood rushed to my face I was sure I would catch fire right about now. I literally was mimicking Hinata from when she was really shy around Naruto. Though I was totally fine and what I called normal around everyone else. So while standing there I decided to make up my mind that I was going to force myself to be myself around him, if that made any sense. I was sick and tired of all this wallowing and shyness, hell I was sure Yuki was as well so I waited to here his response.

"Is that all?" he said before starting to walk off, "Nothing much really."

"That is it," I said to myself before catching his arm, "Excuse me Mr. Perfect and Genius. You know you think after Naruto kicked your ass all across the floor, forgive my language Mr. Hyuga, that you might be a little nicer. I know that your life isn't all roses and frolics through the flowers and you are probably exhausted from a mission but if someone asks you something answer it. Don't beat around the bush!"

I quickly shut up after that, brooding, mixed with bottling, mixed with sudden insanity does not do well when manners needed to be present. Although I heard a cheer from Yuki, a giggle from Hanabi, a gasp from Hinata, and I could feel a glare from Hiashi, or I hope it was just a glare. Neji just stood there for a moment before twisting out of my grip.

"With an outburst like that I should remind you where you are," came a voice behind me.

I slowly turned to meet a grim looking Hiashi staring at me with a frown on his face. Other than the age lines that stood around his eyes and mouth, which to me they make people seem happy, he looked scary. I streightened up and looked back at him.

"Well Mr. Hiashi Hyuga sir, he is owed a good talking too," I said planting my feet preparing to be knocked out, "Truth of the matter is, he is trying. Maybe I am seen as something other than what I would like to be. But, um before I stick my foot any farther in my mouth, I would like to say this: Neji, thank Yuki for buying flowers and scribbling some idiotic thing on the card and giving them to me, saying they are from you. She is all yours, though the hell she has given me today, I would like to join, but I think watching has its perks too."

I looked at Yuki and then back at Hiashi who watched as Neji began to bow to him and excuse himself from the compound. However I swore I saw fire coming off the trail when Yuki darted off back home. Before Neji started after her I caught him by the sleeve.

"Hey, get her tomorrow. I have a first impression to make up for," I said.

"But you weren't that bad," piped in Hanabi.

"Well you weren't mooned by accident," I told Hanabi before looking back at Haishi, "Well Mr. Hyuga if you are going to pummel me do it now. My other bruises haven't healed yet and I don't want to wait if that is the case."

"You remind me of someone," said Hiashi.

"Please don't let it be Naruto," I whined.

"Why not?" asked Hinata.

"Well one is special enough, we don't need multiple Narutos running around, unless Naruto used Kage Bunshin no Jutsu*," I smiled, "Um, hey Neji if it isn't too much trouble could I apologize to you later?"

"Why not now?" he asked me.

"You will see!" I said winking, "Oh I haveta go and terrorize my sis, I will see you later!"

As I was leaving I could hear Hinata telling Neji something and Hiashi and Hanabi were yelling bye to me, though Hanabi wanted a rematch of her taking me down in the dark scary hallways of the Hyuga compound. I turned around.

"Alright I will come by again sometime and spar with you Hanabi, no hiding in dark scary hallways!" I called back before running home.

* * *

*Kage Bushin no Jutsu- Shadow Clone Technique: this jutsu creates clones of the user. Unlike the Clone Technique, these clones are actual copies, not illusions.

The actual pics of these outfits are found on CryoFlesh look under fem tops and fem pants.

Kori is currently wearing the Ningen Top II with the Space Odessy pants. Yuki is wearing the Serenity Top with the Sirius Pants II. The shoes I made up but the boots I was inspired by some that are sold at the renassaice fair where I live and I want them.

* * *

**Rive: **Sorry about the delay, I have had some unexpected stuff come up in my life. So I lost a bit of creativity, but I managed to get this chapter down. Not so much on the personal basis of the off character and Neji and Shika getting together but I figured bringing in the main people you see in the Hyuga clan will add something to the story. I also am thinking of doing something with them but I haven't figured it out yet, so if I do it is there, if I don't, well they will be mentioned anyway. Hopefully I can get my creative stuff together and get the next chapter going because we have revenge, why sneaking in the woods can go wrong, and a forced date due to some knowledge this writer implants into characters heads.

Disclaimer: I don't own Narutuo. Because if I did, it would not be suitable for children to watch, that is for sure.

Love it or see something that could be improved such as a mistake in spelling or grammar, leave a review.


	7. Chapter 7:On your guard

I woke up with a jolt as a migraine hit me. Sudden flashes of ninjas fighting swept through my head, some of them I could recognize, others I could not. Behind them there was a feint shadow laughing. All I could make out was a mask with one hole in it and a black and red cloak. Then I was in a room with a large statue, and there in the mix were a few sets of eyes, though I couldn't count all of them since it was only brief. I saw flashes of Orochimaru and Itachi, and a few others I couldn't place at the moment. When it was all over all I could do was fall back on my pillow.

My mind was numb and I tried moving but couldn't for a few more minutes. Whatever this was, it was important. As soon as I could move I hopped out of bed and ran to Yuki's room. She was sound asleep, or so I thought. When I made my way over to her bed she was awake and rose up and turned on her light. I stood there and bit my lip, trying to figure out what to say.

"We have to go see Tsunade," she said, "I saw what they were doing."

"I saw who they were," I replied.

We got dressed and headed to her office only to find out she wasn't there. When ANBU asked that we leave them a message we told them that it couldn't wait and that they couldn't hear any of it.

"Just get her," I said standing there.

With in a flash they were gone and a few minutes later Tsunade was in her office looking at us.

"What couldn't wait until the morning," she said sternly.

"I think we know about the Akatsuki, well more about them," I said fidgeting.

"Well don't just stand there," said Tsunade.

Yuki and I were escorted into a large room and given ink and paper. Everything we could recall we wrote down. Descriptions, where they were when we saw them, people they were attacking, and everything else. After a few hours we were finished. Tsunade sent some of her most trusted shinobi to check out the information we had given her. Then we were told that we could rest for the day, but something in the back of my mind told me that we shouldn't be resting.

"Tsunade, I don't think this has...well happened," I said looking at the ground, "I think they might be something different."

"Explain," said Tusnade.

"Well, I saw a few people die, and I think they are still alive," I mumbled before I could feel Yuki place her hand on my back to comfort me.

"It is still blurry and I think it should be that way sis," said Yuki, "If we end up having anything extraordinary about us, it could lead to trouble."

"Well yes, I know that," I said to her, "Maybe it was what 'he' wanted from us."

"He?" questioned Tsunade.

"The man in the mask, we still don't know who or what he is, though he is behind it all," I told her.

After a long conversation some of the ANBU members came back with more information regarding our flashes that we saw. Sure enough some of the people we listed were still alive and some of the people were missing. When Tsunade got the report she stood there and looked at us. I could feel the stares of the ANBU members as well. I didn't think our memories were that bad, other than the pain, but as Tsunade read on her face began to harden. A few moments later she slammed the report down on her desk before telling the ANBU to leave.

"Are we in trouble?" I asked.

"It is a possibility that you did work for the Akatsuki, there is also a possibility that you have the gift of foresight, but whatever the reason you two have to be kept safe. You are now a liability for Konoha," she told us, "I can't ignore this as the Fifth Hokake, but I can't force you into something that you wouldn't agree on either. Right now my hands are tied so if you still wish to become shinobi you have to be restricted to Konoha. If you were captured by another village the information that you two so happen to know could lead to another war that would not be in our favor."

"Tsunade," I interrupted,"I know that you are just trying to protect your village but, couldn't you seal away this thing?"

"The information you have given us now is more than enough, even with as vague as it is, to greatly help us in protecting our village and our allies," she began.

"No!" said Yuki, "You can't, that isn't how it is supposed to be. We can't give you anymore secrets if this is how it is. Although we want to protect Konoha too, we can't give you anything that would make it so you can take over anyone else. That isn't how it works."

"Yuki?" I said starring at her.

"Really? Do you believe that I would use this information to my advantage and try and conquer other villages?" asked Tsunade.

Yuki looked directly into her eyes, "Yes, and I think we told you too much already."

"Would you die to keep this from falling into the wrong hands," questioned Tsunade as she got up from her chair.

Both Yuki and I starred at her then looked back. We held each others hand for support and then replied, "Yes."

"Then there is nothing to worry about," she said.

"What about the ROOT seal?" I asked her.

"ROOT was disbanded a long time ago, why would you know anything about it?" asked Tsunade.

"Well, they have this thing where they can't give any secrets away otherwise they become paralyzed. Could you do that to us as a precaution?" I asked her.

"No, I would not place you in danger to keep secrets. You have already proven yourself worthy ninja by doing the right thing. If it is going to be a problem then I will be the only one that you tell, no one else will ever know any other information." said Tsunade.

"I know you are trying to get us to trust you, that isn't the problem," I said, "This has already put us in danger. We have to become stronger to protect ourselves. What if someone mistakes us as clairvoyant? They would stop at nothing to capture us. I don't want to rely on anyone to protect me. I think we are supposed to protect them."

"Who is them?" asked Tsunade.

"Everyone who may die," I told her.

"You can't save everyone and you may throw your lives away," said Tsunade slamming her fist down on the desk.

"Trying to keep us safe like Naruto heh?" I said smiling, "Don't worry about him, he is strong."

"But he is an idiot," said Yuki.

"But he is our idiot!" I squealed,"He will do what is right, no matter how hard it is. We should do the same."

"Trying to save the world?" asked Yuki.

"No, trying to save what we can. Miss Tsunade, something is coming and I don't know how we can stop it or if we can. If it happends know that we are here to try and keep our village safe. We may not be from here, but it is our home," I said with a goofy grin.

"What if the 'greater good' is betraying this village?" asked Tsunade.

"Then I will go with the 'lesser evil'," I told her, "Besides we need a cat nap in anyway, we have a survival test to do this week."

"Before you go, could you tell me what your activities have been for the past few days," said Tsunade, "It would seem that whatever you are doing is causing this to happen."

"Well training, shopping, and hanging out with people," said Yuki.

"Whom specifically," she said narrowing her eyes.

"Tanzo and Hayama-sensei, are the ones we have spent the most time Hyuga, Shikamaru Nara Hinata Hyuga, Kiba Inuzuka, and Ino Yamanaka are the ones we see most often," said Yuki, "Ino and I talk a lot when I have free time and she isn't working, she and I are shopping buddies when I can't get my sis out of bed."

"Kiba spends a lot of time at the park and I run into him there, and I bump into Hinata a lot when I am wandering around Konoha after training," I said,"The other two we hang around with because we like them."

"Great now we sound like fan girls," huffed Yuki.

"Better than a stalker," I smiled.

"Dismissed, I will be informing your sensei that you two are going to have to be restricted to Konoha for the time being until I can figure things out. In the mean time, work hard on your training, you are going to need it," said Tsunade.

It didn't take us too long to reach the area of the forest we were going to meet Tanzo and Hayama. When we got there Hayama told us that we were going to have to survive three days with out assistance and set out borders for us to work in. After that he darted off and we were left there to fend for ourselves.

"This is easy," said Tanzo.

"So you have done it before, Yuki and I haven't done this before. Closest thing we have to this is camping and even then we had equipment. All we have now is what is in our pockets," I told him.

"So what do we have?" asked Yuki.

All of us emptied out our pockets and looked at the pile. Separating it out we had a spool of wire, three sets of kunai, a blank scroll, some hair bows, gauze, tape, canteens, and some gum. Yuki looked it all over and then tried to figure out who was going to do what.

"Tanzo, since you know the area more than we do, could you find food? I can search for wood to build a fire and see if there is a cave nearby to sleep in, and Kori, you look for some water," she said.

"Um hate to rain on the parade but what if something happens to us, I doubt sensei would leave us here with no trouble," I told them.

"You are so paranoid," sighed Yuki.

"Well we have to make some sort of camp before nightfall and we already have a late start, so no complaining and get to your task!" said Tanzo before darting off.

"He seems a bit, rushed," I wondered aloud.

A few hours later I had managed to find water and used the canteens to carry the water back to where we started out. Yuki had not only found a small cave but enough dry wood to build a small fire. She showed me the way to it and now we were waiting on Tanzo to show back up. When he didn't come back we started to get worried. So naturally we decided to look for Tanzo. It took us about fifteen minutes to begin to hear voices.

"No stop it, that hurts!"

"Well if you stop squirming and relax it will feel better!"

"How can I relax with you on top of me like that!"

"Shh! Someone will hear us!"

Yuki and I stopped mid step and dove into the bushes. I wasn't sure what was running through her mind, but one of those voices belonged to Tanzo, and it sound like he was in a certain situation. My mind was reeling and I had to cover my nose to prevent bleeding.

"Hey you are going to kill me with that!"

"Oh come on I know you are limber, now hold still."

"Get off! I can do this myself you know!"

"Well if that was the case then why am I here?"

"Seemed like a better option than waiting on those two girls."

"Seriously you are teamed up with two girls?"

"Yeah, so? Hey are you going to hurry up and finish?"

"Yeah give me a few moments, I am almost there...done!"

With that I was pretty sure I passed out. Yuki on the other hand roused me long enough to drag me out of the bushes. Turned out Tanzo had fallen into a trap and his former team mate, Minaji, was nearby and found him there. Trying not to seem harmless he tried helping Tanzo and when he cut the rope, there was a secondary trap triggered and they were both caught in it. Now they were working on getting out of a net, rope, and trying not to get cut with wire. I twitched there for a moment, still in la la land.

"We were worried about you!" said Yuki, still calm for some reason.

"Yeah worried," was the only thing I could say lazily, trying to get my focus back.

"Well if I had of kept waiting, I could have been here all night!" said Tanzo after getting up and brushing off some of the cut netting.

"Um, why is he here?" I asked.

"Well I was on my way back after delivering a message and well I saw Tanzo here, and I couldn't just sit by," said Minaji.

"Come on lets get back to camp and get you cleaned up and treated for anything," said Yuki, "You, Minaji, need to leave. Sensei would kill us if he found out you helped."

"Got it, lips are sealed," said Minaji before darting off.

We brought Tanzo back and I treated some of the cuts he had acquired from squirming in the wire. I couldn't quite look him in the eye yet, but he didn't seem to notice. When I finished it was now up to me and Yuki to find some suitable food. Yuki read a lot of books on Botany because of Ino, and she was foraging for some eatable roots, berries, and other wild plants that were safe to eat. I on the other hand knew that there were fish in the stream and decided to fish. We could make some style of shiskabob and eat it. After catching three fish, I made my way back to camp. Yuki had found some mushrooms, daikon, kogomi, mitsuba, walnuts, primision, aparagus, and some beechnuts. I had to get Tanzo to help me get some clay that we found nearby and use our ninjutusu to make a makeshift boiling pot and that allowed me to gather more water. Then we made some stew out of the asparagus, daikon, mushrooms, mistuba, and kogomi. We dried the primisions out and kept the beechnuts and walnuts for breakfast. Then we grilled some of the fish and smoked other parts of it to keep it so that we could have something else to eat other than fruits and nuts.

The next morning we gathered what we had and left our former campsite and moved away to another, but since it was open, we couldn't build a fire and had to make a small shack out of wood and canopy cover to disguise it. After making the shelter, Yuki took it upon herself to share with us where she found the eatable plants, nuts, and berries and how to tell them apart from toxic plants. Tanzo taught me and Yuki now to waterproof the shelter using mud, twigs, and leaves. The only thing I could do was fish and cook, but I guess that would do for now. Thankfully I picked up some first aid here and there from when Yuki and I were in the hospital. That night we kept sleeping in shifts to keep lookout and make sure that we were safe, since there was not telling what Hayama sensei was going to throw at us. We were already weary of traps. Other than the first mishap, and changing our campsite, we managed to survive the days and still be in good health. Though Hayama sent us to get checked out in case we were sick and didn't know it.

While at the hospital Ino and Sakura were there tending to patients who had minor injuries so that they could become more efficient with healing Chakra. They ended up checking us over, with the help of Tsunade. I gulped as Tsunade came over towards us, thinking of all sorts of horrible things that could have gotten to me and that none of us were prepared for anything if someone was injured. As Sakura inspected me I decided to make light conversation.

"Um, so you are Tsunade's apprentice, heh?" I said as she checked my eyes.

"Yeah, she is tough but I have learned a lot about medical jutsu under her," said Sakura as she checked the rest of my head area for anything.

"So what is is like being a medical nin?" I asked.

"Alright I suppose," she replied,"You are needed in the field if one of your fellow shinobi is injured in a fight or any other illness or poison."

"So what does it take to become a medical-nin?" I asked.

"Well it is easier for you to be one if you have excellent chakra control and have to keep up with everything they teach you, plus the extra training you need," she said while finishing up.

I looked at Tsunade and then back at Sakura, "Could I add that to what I want to learn as a shinobi? We don't have a med-nin in our group and it would help if we did, considering the chances of us getting into trouble."

"You have a point and if you wish to learn then you can be an apprentice of a med-nin, but that would cut into your down time as a person. Are you sure you don't want to wait until after you are a chunin?" said Tsunade.

"Why isn't Sakura a Genin?" I said smiling before being bonked on the skull.

"That isn't what I mean!" yelled Tsunade, "The training is very difficult and would take up a lot of your time. I don't want you over exhausting yourself."

"Ow!" I said rubbing the new bump, "I still want to try."

"If you can find a teacher that will take you then you can," said Tsunade, "That would certainly help keep you in Konoha."

"That is for sure," I mumbled.

After Ino was finished with Yuki, Tsunade told them to leave so that she could talk to us. Getting a little nervous, I looked at Yuki.

"During your time on your mission, which I was told was a success, I was given time to think about what you said earlier. As far as we know, there isn't anyone looking for you, nor do we have any information regarding your existence. So it had come to my attention that it appears that you have been made out of thin air. With that in mind, I doubt anyone but me and the ANBU operatives that have been given the information know about you. If I can give you weekly check-ups for any indication of your progression of your memories returning and any more incidents such as the Akatsuki case, I will lift the restriction. However your missions will be E and D Rank only for the time being, until you can prove that you can take care of yourselves and we are sure that you are in no immediate danger. From now on you will have a guard posted at your living quarters until I can make sure this is a one time thing.

Surely you can see that if you do have clairvoyant abilities how much of an asset and liability you can become. If this is just a temporary reaction to jutsu then maybe your memories returning can get rid of it. For now we need to see if you can regain your memories, so I have called two shinobi to escort you tomorrow. There you will try and see if anything causes a stir in your memories or you have a reaction like you did a few nights ago. Until then dismissed," said Tsunade.

"Okay so we are going to be watched like a hawk?" I said sighing, "Great."

After receiving the okay for us to go home we headed that way. When we arrived we were met by the most unlikeliest of people, Rock Lee. There he was standing outside our door with a vigilant look on his face, though he still had to brace himself up with a crutch. Guy was behind him talking to him about something before he noticed us and greeted us.

"Welcome back home! Tonight you will be guarded by Lee!" said Guy.

"Ter-riffic," I said flatly.

"I promise that under my protection that neither one of you will come to harm! That is the promise that I keep for you two. Under no circumstances will anyone come within a hundred yards of this place!" began Lee.

"Um Lee, this isn't training or anything you just have to make sure no one breaks in.." said Yuki with a exhausted look.

"Yeah Lee, don't worry about it, just knock your socks of and come in," I said, "It is dinner time and I am making curry. I will make yours extra spicy."

"Knock my socks off?" said Lee, "Is that a training technique?"

"No weird speech girl over there known as my sister wants you to chill out, you know relax," said Yuki as she grabbed him and tried to move him inside.

Both he and she were frozen in place, I could tell by the straining noises she was trying to budge him. I sighed out loud and looked at her.

"You know he is wearing those weight thingies and I am sure the crutch is just there to add more weight, not for convenience," I told her before she glared at me.

Lee smiled, "So you recognize my great strength and know of my hidden techniques that I was sure only TenTen, Neji, and Guy sensei were aware of. You are a master of perception and you must teach me how to become so!"

"I don't think so," I told him, "I know a lot about a lot of people. Plus your baggy leg warmers look like one of the weights is off, you might want to fix it."

He looked down and adjusted his leg warmers giving me enough time to unlock the door and dart in. I gulped at the idea of Lee spending the night here. All sorts of horrors ran through my mind. All that boy saw was an opportunity to train so he can become stronger. I was now on the hunt to remove all breakable objects that were precious to me, and store them in a safe place. A few moments of me gathering everything both Yuki and Lee were in the house.

"Kori, what are you doing?" asked Yuki.

"Breakable objects must be kept safe," I told her.

"And if you haven't broken them just by touching them then I can assume they will be safe with Lee here," she sighed, "So Lee why are you here exactly?"

"Tsunade thought this would be a good opportunity to work on me keeping watch," he said with a smile.

"Other words she wants you to stop working yourself to death," I said before I started on the curry.

The next thing on the agenda was a nice hot, long shower, or bath. I wasn't going to be a poor host and not feed Lee, though me doing so may have him coming here more often. It wasn't that I was a fantastic cook or anything, I was just being nice. I didn't mind him or anything, it was just his overabundant joyful nature got on my nerves. I liked things quiet. While I was making the curry Yuki took her bath and I had to all but tie down Lee to keep him still. After the rice was done I began working on a mild sauce and added spices so that I could eat it. After that was done I set a small bowel aside with mine and then upped the spiciness adding chilli powder, cumin, and wasabi. After the sauce was finished I made each of us a plate, though I put mine in a bowel so it wouldn't be confused with the others. When Lee ate his, I hoped that he liked it because when I was taste testing it, I thought I melted a hole through my jaw. After he finished he ate a second plate and I finished mine before heading into the bath.

After my bath and cleaning up I went started to go to bed but then I saw Lee making a bee line towards me. I sighed and stopped him.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"Making sure it is safe to sleep, an enemy could have placed traps in your room while you were away," he informed me.

"I will take my chances. If I catch you in my room, if you survive, I will kill you," I said staring him down.

"Why?" he said innocently.

"Well I need to clean it for one. I had a mishap of losing a favorite top one day and tore my room to pieces looking for it," I muttered, "That and it is a girls room!"

"I would never look at you in such a manner!" he said taken back.

"I am not saying you would," I said aloud though I thought, _you may tell Neji how bad my room looks, it really needs cleaned. That and I don't trust people in the dark to live in there, they might trip over something, and stab themselves with one of the random kunai I have all over the floor. I wonder why I haven't...do not think about it._

"I will help you!" he said, "No lady should ever have to take on such a great task alone!"

"Well this," I giggled, "lady caused the mess, so I can pick it up...Where are you...NO!"

Before I could catch him, he was already cleaning up the disaster I called my room. I just hoped he didn't find one of my random doodles I had. Some of those were embarrassing, not to mention my underwear might be in the middle of the floor. I stood in the doorway aiming at him before I lunged forward and missed him. I bounced on my bed and scattered some of the things I was using to make Neji something. Before I could hit the wall Lee had caught me and began to pick up the random objects that scattered.

"Your room isn't as bad as you made it sound. I went to Naruto's house once and I will never forget it. Yes some of your clothes were on the floor but at least you don't have last weeks ramen under your bed," Lee joked as he picked up a medium sized box and turned it over, "May I ask what is this?"

I snatched it out of his hands and hugged it to my chest," Um, nothing really."

"Who is it for?" he asked.

"Um it is a home made decoration, nothing more," I said lowering my head.

"Then why is N-" said Lee before I swatted my hand over his mouth.

"Shh!" I hissed, "Please, oh please don't tell him. I have been working on it since..my incident...with...him."

"I promise," said Lee after he removed my hand, "Can I at least put this back?"

In his hand was a small little bird that was once attached to one of the sides of the box. The project I was working on was a shadow box like diorama that could be opened to reveal something else. On the left side of the box were birds flying high in the sky with an elevated cloud with a single dark spot on it, if the box was laid out, the birds out appear to be fish swimming in a stream. On the right of the box was the night sky with shooting stars, if laid out, part of the Hyuga Compound could be seen in the illusion, with that side a part of the roof was sticking up and had a small ray of moonlight hitting it, where I found out Neji's room would be. In the middle was a small doll that resembled Neji was meditating and the doll could be moved and placed on a stand that was fitted on the bottom of the box. The top was made to 'lock in' the two sides that when put together would make a ying yang on the back, and it had lines that I would carve out and make and intricate design that would light up the box's interior and made so colored paper could be place upon it to give it a different look*.

I reluctantly showed him the box and he asked me what it was for and I told him it was my apology to Neji for mooning him. Lee looked amazed at everything even though it wasn't finished and I still had the carvings to do, which would take a while.

"If he doesn't forgive you for this, then I will kick his ass," said Lee.

"Thanks but he may hate it anyway," I said shrugging, "If I work on it now, I can finish by tomorrow afternoon, tonight if I work non-stop since it is mostly finished. If you want to help, could you pass me all the tools I need?"

"Sure!" he said before retrieving my art supplies box.

It took a few hours and with the help of Lee, I managed to finish carving the top piece of the box, though the wood was softer than the rest of it, and I was afraid of breaking it, but I was happy I didn't. Then I found some pale blue tissue paper to attach and carved out the ridges so that it would stay secure when mounted on the other parts of the box. Lee had taken up painting the ying yang sign and some of the shooting starts, though some I had to go back and fix. Then we made a small latch to place on the back of the box so it would hold together and take some of the stress away from the top. When it was all finished, I looked at the clock and it was two in the morning. After cleaning up I told Lee he could sleep on the couch and if he needed anything he could help himself.

"Thanks Kori," said Lee,"Goodnight."

"Night Lee," I told him, "Hey do you know who our guard is tomorrow?"

"Godaime didn't say anything to me about it," he said before heading off to the couch.

I was worried about who was going to guard us tomorrow. I mean Lee wasn't that bad but what if we got someone crazy or overly serious. I went to bed and tried to get some sleep, but I was worried and excited about who I was going to hang out with tomorrow.

* * *

*this is the picture of what appears below the Hyuga members when they use the Hakke Rokujūyon Shō (Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms)

* * *

**River: **Okay I know I said something about revenge and forced date, but I had a creativity wave and couldn't fit it all in. This is the longest chapter yet and there is a lot of things I needed to get out of the way. But any who, yay here is your chapter. Throwing in what the 'apology' is and the encounter in the forest I hope you will enjoy. Even I snickered at the thought of them stumbling on a scene and assuming things. I was going to put Iruka and Kakashi but I figured that was overly used and would have probably caused the yoai fans to scream at me, plus they wouldn't fall for something like that anyway.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto in any way shape or form, I just use characters in writing fanfiction.

Love it, see something that needs to be checked (spelling grammar) leave a review. Until next chapter! *POOF*


	8. Chapter 8: Sweet Revenge

My bedroom light was flipped on suddenly. I groaned and buried my head under the pillow to drown out the light. As I cracked an eye open and looked at the clock and saw that it was eight in the morning. I just dragged myself out of bed before Yuki decided to kick me out. I didn't bother getting dressed and just put on a long jacket to cover myself with. I usually slept in a spaghetti string top or some other shirt and that was it, well other than my undies. I wore shorts or pants around the house, but I couldn't sleep with them on, unlike Yuki who was in baggy shirts and pants all the time when she slept. Before I made it to the door a grinning Lee greeted me.

"Morning Kori!" he sounded chipper, "Today is a wonderful day to show everyone the true strength of your spirit and heart!"

I just tilted my head up slightly so I could look at him, normally I looked like a zombie when walking around the house when I first woke up, and shrugged and shuffled to the coffee. Lee looked at Yuki who just waived him off and told him it was better to just ignore me until I finished my coffee.

"But we need to be at Godaime's office in ten minutes," he said before picking me up bridal style, coffee still in hand, "Then I will carry both of you to make sure that you are on time."

"Wait what?" was the only thing Yuki could say before both of us were being carried off by Lee.

Ten minutes and two coffee spills later we were in front of Tsunade's office door. After knocking we were told to go in and stood there for a moment. I was still half a sleep and could not tell that there were two other bodies in the room other than Tsunade and her assistant.

"Yes?" said Yuki, "Why are they here?"

"These are your escorts for today, and until I find the true cause of how you are regaining 'memory', they will escort you once a week. Your guards will be switched every couple of days so that you can be protected and we can still have teams out there with missions," said Tsunade.

"Kori," whispered Yuki, "You have pants on right?"

"What the hell do you think? I just got out of bed," I grumbled.

"Well don't look now but um, that jacket...I wouldn't bend over any time soon," said Yuki.

"Okay," I said rubbing my eyes with one hand before my focus came back.

When my vision focused there were two familiar presences before us, when I could see clearly I gulped. There were Shikamaru and Neji again. I wasn't sure why Tsunade thought of this brilliant plan but I wasn't about to complain. At least I would be able to give Neji his present.

"How long do they have to escort us?" I asked.

"I am not sure," was the only Tsudade said before dismissing us.

When we were walking back home I tried to think of something to talk about. I didn't want them to hate us or be bored, but it would be difficult. Starring at the clouds something caught my eye.

"Hey Shikamaru, that one up there, looks like a bunny," I said out loud hoping for a response.

Shikamaru said, "Yeah, there is another one that looks like a bird."

"What kind of bird," I asked him.

"Find it and see," he sighed.

I searched and searched in the sky for one that looked like a bird but I couldn't find it. Then I realized that he was teasing me but before I could do anything about it I heard Yuki say stop. I almost ran into a lady and caused her to drop all her packages. After catching my balance I caught everything she dropped and kept everything together.

"Sorry about that ma'am, can I help you?" I asked her.

"Sweet dear, of course you can. I am sorry for not being able to see where I was going," she said, "My house isn't far away. Could you carry these?"

Feeling the true weight of the luggage I was carrying I wondered by she wasn't snapped in half but I already offered, "Sure."

I was straining by the time we got to her house, and of course Yuki followed me to offer 'help.' I just growled under my breath, there was not a chance she would get away with this. That and I kept having Neji offer to help me, after the second time Yuki occupied his time and warned him that 'helping' me was insulting. It wasn't that I didn't need it, I was just being stubborn right now and wanted to look useful. After helping the old lady we went back to the house so I could get dressed, and give Neji his gift.

We got back to the flat but my good mood was ruined by a irritated Tanzo at our doorstep. He was waiting on us for a while, it looked like. When we hit the last step he crossed his arms. I rolled my eyes and began taking out my keys.

"Where were you two!" he started, "Sensei had me do everything!"

"Business," I said putting the key in the lock.

"What is so important that you skip out on training!" he yelled, "And what is this that I hear you two are restricted..."

I turned around and glared at him. I was about to tell him off before I swallowed my anger and smiled, "It is nothing you should be concerned over."

"Well you are part of my team and if there is something wrong then you should tell me," he said.

"Um, Hokage thinks that we are dangerous," said Yuki, "So until she is certain we are not, we have guards."

"So you weren't out on a date," was the last thing Tanzo said before having two fists punch him in the gut.

"No!" be both yelled before I returned to unlocking the door.

After getting in the house I made a beeline to my room to get dressed. Since I doubted we were going to do much today other than be watched. I kept it simple with a black tank top, neon stripped arm warmers, faded gray jeans that had a few holes in them due to me wearing them out and being accident prone, and black sneakers. After that I grabbed Neji's gift and headed out to where everyone was. Yuki was dragging Tanzo back into our house before dropping him on the couch, Neji and Shikamaru were just standing there. I hid the object on the counter behind the neary dead flowers that Yuki bought me.

"Um, Neji could I see you for a moment?" I asked him.

"What are you doing now?" chimed in Yuki before I shot her a look.

"What is this about?" asked Neji while walking toward me.

My eyes darted around the room and I found a small bag that wasn't being used so I put the box in it. As Neji rounded the corner I had the bag behind my back and looked at him before trying to quickly think of something to say.

"I was wondering what Hinata is up to," I blurted out, "Since you live with her...I suppose you would know what she is doing."

"Today she is taking a few classes for her med-nin training," he said calmly, "She won't be finished until lunch time."

"Oh," I huffed, "Well I can wait. Um, it is a pretty day so how about we go to the park Yuki."

"Bright, sun shining, warm, and what is your problem. Usually you would be shut in somewhere," said Yuki at my sudden suggestion.

"Maybe I wanted to run, or show Tanzo a thing or two. I don't know," I said fidgeting.

"What is in the bag?" I heard a voice behind me say, Tanzo.

"Nothing!" I squeaked.

"Really then you wouldn't mind if I looked at it then?" he said.

"No, not at all," I said handing the bag to him while stealing the Neji doll and hiding it in my pocket.

"What is this?" he asked when peaking into it, "Looks broken."

"Yeah I guess so, I thought I would decorate my room so I went to this antique shop and bought it and then when I brought it home I looked in the bag and it broke," I lied through my teeth.

That caught Yuki's attention, "So wouldn't you like to gi- return the item?"

"Yeah, so Neji, since you are my guard?" I suggested.

"How about we all go!" said Tanzo.

This made me want to pummel him into the ground so far that when they discovered his body they would think he was killed by someone who used Doton*. Yuki decided on voicing her opinion since she felt the aura I was giving off while looking at him.

"That sounds like a good idea," she smiled.

That is when daggers appeared out of my eyes as I turned to look at her and smile. My body instantly relaxed and my faced brightened into a cheerful happy-go-lucky look. Yuki began to step back slightly. When I get really pissed off two things happen, I become nice and polite and any chance I get someone is going to feel pain.

"Oh how nice of you to think so too!" I said still smiling and putting more _I will kill you with kindness _into it, "A refreshing walk with a spar sounds lovely since we missed our training."

"Not it," said Yuki as she headed into her room and dressed.

"What is she talking about," said Tanzo.

"Oh nothing love," I said walking out the door.

When Yuki arrived she was dressed in a pair of light blue long shorts, neon pink high tops, a soft green baby doll style shirt and a deniem vest that had embrodiery on it. I wasn't sure what the design on the vest was supposed to be because when the light hit it, I was sure we were all blinded by color. Tanzo decided on a race between us since we decided to opt out our ninja gear and he belived we would slow down. Well our shoes weren't meant for running, jumping, climbing trees but we decided to cheat.

"Ready set..." began Tanzo.

"Quick distraction!" I said pointing to nothing before me and Yuki sped off.

"What?" said Tanzo before he realized what happened, "That is cheating!"

"We are shinobi!" said Yuki.

The race ended with Shikamaru and Neji both beating us there, then Yuki and me, then Tanzo. I would have won but I tripped over a shoelace and skidded to a stop on my face. Thankfully I saved the box I made for Neji by throwing it to him. After he caught it he looked at me funny as I peeled myself off the ground. I had a few scrapes and a busted lip but nothing major.

"It is for you anyway," I said after dusting myself off and finding the doll still secure in my pocket.

He brought the box out and looked at it for a moment. I then unfolded everything so he could see the illusions before bringing out the little doll I had and setting it in place. Then I folded everything up and locked it in place with the top and showed him what it looked like then.

"It is my apology," I said while looking at him through my bangs.

"Thank you," he said still starring at it.

I wasn't sure if he liked it or not, but I did decide to warn him, "Lee helped me finish it, and he said if you didn't forgive me he was going to kick your ass."

"I will keep that in mind," he replied, "Could I borrow you for a moment?"

"Er, sure," I said following him.

"There is still the matter about your sister," he said coolly,"I wish to teach her a lesson."

I grinned evilly, "What did you have in mind?"

"Showing her that it is not wise to cross a Hyuga," he said before giving me the present back.

It clicked in my head what he was fixing to do and I stopped him, "No! Putting her in the hospital when you are supposed to be guarding us is a bad idea. I have something better anyway."

"What do you have in mind?" he asked.

"We are going to need a basket, Shikamaru, balloons, and assorted fillings," I giggled.

"Assorted fillings?" he questioned while raising an eyebrow.

"For the balloons," I told him before getting the Nara into our plot.

When Shikamaru heard what we were going to do the only thing that he said was, "Distraction?"

"Oh if you don't mind, this may take a while," I said, "Just tell her we went back to the Hyuga Compound to drop Neji's gift off so it doesn't get broken."

"Got it," said Shikamaru before he realized he had to do work,"Wait, how easily distracted is she?"

"Tell her to watch the clouds with you, trust me," I said before heading off to the Hyuga Compound.

After dropping off Neji's present and avoiding Hanabi, we went to the store and bought all the ingredients we needed.

**Yuki's POV**

"Yuki," said Shikamaru, "Kori asked that I stay with you while she and Neji drop off that box thing she made him. Then they are going to come back."

"Okay, sheesh," I sighed, "She could have told me herself you know."

"If you are going to spar with Tanzo I will be keeping an eye on you from the tree," he said.

_Lazy bones_ I said to myself in my head _but he is just too cute, and it helps he is totally smart._

"Got it!" I told him before Tanzo and I began to spar.

After a while and a score of Tanzo not winning and me winning three matches I was tired and decided to rest. The day became hot and I offered to get drinks.

"This spot is comfy," said the Nara.

"Alright," I sighed, "Tanzo, since I can't leave without Shikamaru, could you go and get us something to drink? I am paying."

"Sure," said Tanzo.

Tanzo had bought drinks and I managed to secure a spot beside Shikamaru in the shade at the base of the tree he was using to prop himself up. The look on his face was very relaxed but I couldn't tell if he was still asleep or not, but I was sitting next to him and I wasn't complaining. When Tanzo came back I gave Shikamaru his drink but lost my seat because the shade had shifted and he took where I was sitting. Not one for losing anything I decided to try and remove him.

"I want that spot back," I told him.

"Not moving," he sighed.

"Oh really?" I said accepting the challenge, "What if I pour my water on you?"

"You realize I use shadow manipulation and you are in the shade," he said propping one eye open.

"And I realize you wouldn't waste the chakra for it," I pointed out to him,"Plus the day is so hot and you are wearing fishnet under your uniform so it must be dreadfully uncomfortable."

"I have been in Suna before in this outfit," he replied, "Konoha isn't that bad."

"You are still sweating," I argued back.

"And I thank you for the drink," he huffed, "Could you do me a favor and please let me enjoy watching the clouds?"

"Did you just tell me to shut up!" I said stomping the ground frustrated.

"Troublesome," he said before shifting slightly to get more comfortable.

"Hey I asked you a question!" I said raising my voice.

Before I knew it I was grabbed by Shikamaru and forced to sit right beside him. He had a hold of my wrist and looped my arm across my chest so it would be harder for me to get up and then he placed his right leg across my left one to make sure I wasn't going anywhere. Then he began to whisper in my ear.

"No I was asking you to join me," he breathed.

"'kay," I said instantly calming down.

A few moments passed before I realized that Kori was still missing and so was Neji. Looking around I didn't see a sign of them but there was peace and quite and I was being half hugged by Shikamaru. I wasn't going to complain and I hoped that Kori had found some way to occupy her time. Things were nice and a cool breeze went by before I found myself drifting off to sleep.

**SPLAT!**

**Kori POV**

"Hurry up! She will have noticed by now!" I called behind me.

"Easy for you to say, you aren't carrying the heavy ones," said Neji.

We arrived to find Shikamaru trying to pry himself away from Yuki. Apparently she had fallen asleep. Both Neji and I sat our baskets down and helped Shikamaru get out of the way of fire. I grabbed a syrup filled one while Neji got one that was filled with a dense cream that was probably whipped by now with all the shaking from running. I looked at Shikamaru and picked up a water filled one and offered it to him.

"You are going to need ammo, when she gets hit she will be pissed. So escape now or grab one," I said taking aim.

Shikamaru grabbed the one out of my hand and stood away from the two of us. I tossed mine but I was a little off and hit the tree above her head, but the syrup burst out of hit covering her in a dark liquid. Neji threw his and it landed on her chest. Yuki jumped up in surprise and looked at us for a moment. Then she felt the syrup ooze out of her hair and targeted me.

"I will kill you!" yelled Yuki before she charged.

"Get the ammo!" I screamed before lobbing another at her.

Before she could reach me however another balloon hit her in the back and she turned to see a smiling Nara acting innocent. I tossed her a water filled one and smiled.

"Your targets are Shikamaru, Neji, or me. You have one balloon," I said, hoping not to be the target.

Next thing I knew I was hit face first with a water balloon with enough force to knock me over. Then a pink blur traveled passed me and my 'ammo' was stolen. I lept up and darted towards Neji and grabbed an armful and began throwing them at both Shikamaru and Yuki. Shikamaru dodged them easily and looked at me with frustration.

"Why am I being targeted?" he questioned.

"By choosing to hit me and steal the ammo she has made a silent bargain with you and recruited you to her team," I said diving out of the way of a syrup filled one, "Only problem is, my team can deflect projectiles."

"Well mine can freeze you in place!" yelled Yuki throwing one at Neji.

The battle of balloons continued on until we thought we ran out of ammo. Neji and Shikamaru seemed to mostly be hit with ones filled with water, however the Nara got hit once with a chocolate one and Neji got hit with a cream filled one. Both Yuki and I were wet, sticky, and giggling madly. Yuki and I looked at one another and then the two 'clean' ones and darted after them trying to hug them. Apparently both of them had one last balloon and we were smashed with them. I tripped over my shoes and did a rolling move so that I landed on my butt, while Yuki just stood there with a pout on her face that looked like you kicked a puppy in front of her. I was unfortunate to make eye contact.

"Oh god NO! Look away!" I warned the others before I felt bad and gave her a hug.

This caused to to dodge many fits punches and kicks from her when I was in proximity. I managed to give her a hug, keep her pinned, and wedge myself in a way so I wouldn't get hurt. The boys looked at us funny before I turned my head.

"I am calming her down, or at least saving you two from a beating," I sighed.

After she calmed down we headed back to our flat for some lunch and to get cleaned up. Yuki beat me to the bathroom however so I was stuck making lunch. So I began to clean up the best I could and began making soba for everyone. When it was finished I set everything out and knocked on the bathroom door.

"Hey lunch is ready when you get out," I called through the door.

"Alright," said Yuki,"Don't sit on anything until you are clean."

Walking back I realized that the island would only hold three people comfortably and I was still a mess. I sighed and warned the other two about what Yuki said but fortunately for them, they only had dirty shirts, and their clothes had already dried from the water. Though I did feel bad about them getting dirty, but it would be a good excuse to ask the next question that popped into my head.

"Hey I would feel bad if you two had to go home like that, let me wash your clothes," I offered.

They looked at me and then at one another.

"I have had far worse on me than a little chocolate syrup," said Shikamaru.

"But it will stain," I tried to convince him.

"On black?" he replied.

"Yep!" I said, "Hand the shirts over. I am not going to do anything to you, promise."

With that being said I had the glorious opportunity to witness them stripping in front of me. Trying not to let my mind venture too far down that road, I tried to pick a spot on the wall but my eyes were being drawn to them. Shikamaru was the first to be undressed. His olive tinted skin was very nice to stare at. He was not really lean but he wasn't really buff either, and had enough muscle tone to have me consider certain thoughts about him, and the fishnet he wore hugged him very nicely. Neji on the other hand, his porcelain skin was beautiful under the light and he was a bit leaner than Shikamaru but toned enough to look like he could do some damage, to enemies and minds of any girl who caught this wonderful sight. I gathered up the clothes and set them aside, waiting for Yuki to come out of the bathroom. Frantically knocking on the door.

"Sis, it is a good day," I said, "Get your ass out of the bathroom!"

"Ugh," she whined, "What is so great about- Oh my god."

I left her there to stare as I gathered up her clothes and sat them in the washer along with the Nara's. Neji's would have to wait not that I was going to say anything about it, but I would have to keep Shikamaru's shirt far away from Yuki if he was going to leave the house with it. I took a quick shower and added my clothes to the washer and started the machine. Both Yuki and I let the boys have the island to eat on and we conveniently sat on the opposite side just so we had an excuse to stare at them. After eating Yuki cleaned up and I had to find some way to occupy thier time and not try and take advantage of them.

A simple card game was the only thing I could think of but even then I could think of ways using the cards to my advantage. I wanted to slap myself and get my mind out of the gutter for a moment, before my sanity caved.

"So anyone want to play go fish?" I said with card pack in hand.

"Too simple," said Yuki and Shikamaru.

"There is no way I am playing poker or anything like that with you two!" I said pointing at them.

"Why not?" asked Yuki.

"A, I suck, and B, you...wait..what about Phase Ten?" I offered.

"I am game," said Yuki as she finished up the dishes.

I walked up to her and whispered, "Right, as long as you get to sit next to Nara?"

Before she could beat me half to death for that comment Neji caught our attention, "What is this?"

He found a painting that I had done of Konoha when we were still at the Academy.

"Nothing special," I told him, "It was when we moved to Konoha, well when we were still in the hospital. They wouldn't let us wander far so I decided to practice art. Turns out I am really good at it."

The washer stopped and I placed the wet clothes in the dryer and then started another load of laundry that had whites in it so I wouldn't mess up Neji's shirt. I started everything up and returned to the conversation.

"It isn't bad," said Neji.

"No it sucks you are just trying to be nice," I told him, "I have gotten better. The vase in that corner, the painting in the living room, and there are a few dolls I made for the kids."

After that we occupied our attention with everything from a card game, rock, paper, scissors, charades, and simple conversation until the clothes were finished. After they dressed, Yuki and I were a little sad that they put their clothes back on but we knew it was for the best. One multiple accounts she and I tripped over ourselves in both conversations and in trying to take turns in the games. One of the funniest things I had seen in a while was Yuki going to get some tea and slipping on her cards and landing on Shikamaru. Both were alright, well physically but Yuki and Shikamaru blushed when she forced herself to quickly get up and check on him.

I on the other hand had no such luck with situations like this. Nothing accidental that I achieved ended up with me in the arms of the Hyuga, though we did bump into one another once. When it was time for the 'night guard' to show up, we were sad that they had to leave but we knew it wouldn't last, or so we thought. Instead of our guard showing up and ANBU told the boys that they had to stay the night with us. As thrilled as we were about it we were also nervous. There was no telling what would happen.

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Doton- Earth Release

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**River: **More of the OCs and the pairing for your enjoyment. I like sweet revenge...hehehe. So the next chapter is going to continue where I left off and probably have a bit of a time skip. I don't know, haven't thought of exactly what I am going to do with that one.

Disclaimer: I sadly do not own Naruto, if I did it would not be for children.

**Alpenwolf **I will take that subtle hint that you left me in the reviews that you wanted me to comment on your review. You are correct Neji did forgive Kori, but as we all know he doesn't show things well until later on into the Shippuden series (and as you can see it is slow here too). As for Lee kicking Neji's ass...I might look into something for them to fight over, but the fight could go either way, maybe both.

** silvermusic **If you read more of the story you will find out how good it is. Idk why you stopped at the first chapter, maybe it was because you wanted to review each chapter individually? Whatever your reasons, thank you for reading my story. It brings me joy to know that what comes out of my head is entertaining to others.


	9. Chapter 9: Getting to know you

Neither Yuki nor I knew what to do. They were both forced to stay the night at our house. Aside from being ecstatic from the whole ordeal, I was trying to act impassive. I failed. I played the happy dance in my head and ended up doing the dance before them. Amidst my butt shaking I heard a cough behind me and turned to see a very confused Neji. I blushed and giggled.

"Sorry, I am excited," I said being chipper.

"Woah, are you sick?" asked Yuki teasing me.

"Maybe," I shot at her, "It might be contagious."

"Oh dear," she said looking grim for a moment before joining me in the continual happy dance.

"Ha!" I said giggling when we synced up.

We knocked our hips together, twirled around, hopped on one leg, and then double high fived each other. Both Neji and Shikamaru were staring at us. We couldn't help it, and stuff like this wasn't embarrassing. A lot of the time we would play music to motivate us to cleaning and we would dance the exact same way while doing it. I had no idea how we did it though. After the enthusiasm wore off we hit a sudden thought, where were they going to sleep. We only had one couch.

"Oh shite," I gasped in Yuki's ear, "We only have a couch...who is sleeping in who's bed?"

"I don't know, we cross that bridge when we get there," she whispered back.

"What are you two plotting now?" asked a certain Nara.

"Nothing, we were trying to figure out where you were going to sleep," said Yuki.

"Yeah we have two beds, but only one couch..." I said trailing off with certain thoughts of cuddling Neji.

"Well then we will have to compromise," said Neji.

"Oh I don't mind giving up my bed, I can sleep next to Yuki," I said, "You two have to fight over the bed."

With that idea both Yuki and I telegraphed to each other them cat fighting, as unusual as it would be, over my bed. Clothes being torn off, hair being messed up, them pissed and us happy to take care of the scratches. Though we just looked at them with curiosity.

"Take the bed Neji," said Nara, "I don't feel like fighting over where we are going to sleep."

"Alright," said Neji slowly.

On that note I was bouncing up and down madly in my head, though I kept a blank expression on my face. No way in hell was I going to give Neji any more of a hint I liked him. Over our conversations I found out he was a really sweet and loving person, he just didn't know how to go about showing it. Since he was part of the branch family and they were looked down upon by the main branch most of the time, but Neji did discover his uncles fondness of him. Sappiness aside, Neji had a way of calming me down when I got carried away with my random and wild expressions.

Yuki said that she found Shikamaru to be a very smart, calm, and cool, even if he was a bit lazy. Though he was always thinking about something, and she often played him in shoji when Asuma wasn't around. He was also very grounded, a large difference than her head always being in the clouds. I thought it was cute, and anytime I mentioned 'puppy love' she smacked the hell out of me and denied it.

Well with this opportunity aside, we knew we had to make our move or we might lose the chance. So we began silently plotting our way of getting closer to the two without getting overboard or caught. My target would be easier than hers, not that Neji was dull, but Shikamaru always had several strategies to worm his way out of things. Which worried me, Yuki wasn't the type to take rejection well, hell ignore her for five minutes and you found yourself with a large lump on your head when she needed to feel important. I turned and looked at Shikamaru and then at her for a moment before trying to decide what to do. I couldn't threaten him now, but I couldn't warn her either. She wouldn't listen to things that I had to say, usually because I was really practical and blunt with my words. I didn't mean any offense to it but I usually ended up insulting someone at least once a day.

_You can do this, focus on how you are going to get Neji's attention. Well, he liked my shadow box, maybe I could...that could work. Plus it would give Yuki alone time. _

"Hey Neji, do you want to see my room since you are going to sleep there?" I asked.

"Sure," said Neji as he followed me to my room.

Before officially leaving Yuki to her task I gave her a 'go get him' look and walked down the hall.

**Yuki's POV**

When my sis left I sighed, "Well Neji isn't going to be coming back anytime soon."

"Why is that?" asked Shikamaru.

"Well she has a way of keeping anyone she wishes busy," I said putting my hand on my cheek.

"How so?" he asked.

"Well since she is Kori, she can make up excuses, find random things to talk about, or just be slightly creepy. Hopefully she will forgo the last part," I said.

"Creepy?" he asked.

"Don't worry about it," I said walking towards him, "I am being a horrible person talking about her behind her back. So what do you want to do? We have a balcony to watch clouds, there are movies in the shelves over there, and then there is always cards."

"A card game," he said grabbing the cards.

"Old maid," I said.

"Alright," he said shuffling the cards.

After passing out the cards we followed the rules and sorted out all the pairs, and from the looks of it the queen of spades was the old maid. I looked at his hand and he had more cards than I did, so the chances of me pulling out a pair was greater, though I also didn't have the old maid. So this posed a problem, I had to figure out which card was the old maid, and then work around that. Unfortunately Shikamaru saw what I was doing and folded all his cards together and placed them between the palms of his hands.

"What?" I asked him.

"How about we make this more interesting," he said looking smug.

"If you are trying to distract me from winning the game then you are mistaken, but I will take another challenge," I told him.

"When you select a card, if it matches your card then you tell something about yourself, if it doesn't match then you must do something the other suggests," he said calmly.

"Truth or Dare Old Maid?" I said biting my lip thinking, "I like it."

"Now we decide who goes first," he said shuffling the queens in his card pile, "Shuffle it, so you know I am not cheating."

I placed my cards down and then shuffled the deck, both of us chose the top card. My card ended up being higher than his. After deciding that I was going first, he removed the deck from the middle of us and set it aside, near my pile of pairs. Then we shuffled our hands around and began playing. I took a card and it was a pair.

"I am optimistic and my goal is to become a teacher," I told him.

He drew a card, "I hate getting into fights and boiled eggs, I would like to avoid both in my life if I can help it."

My turn,"I want to get married when I am older and my favorite colors are pink and green."

"I like browns, and more earthy shades of color," he said, "I don't really like anything that stands out too much."

The game continued.

**Kori POV**

"Here it is," I said flipping on the light switch.

My bedroom was slightly erratic. In the middle of the room was a square bed with black and creme bed sheets and pillows, it stood on a black square frame, and the mattress stood two feet off the ground. The wall on the right side of the bed was a painting of a garden with a koi pond with sakura blossoms which I painted on a very large piece of paper and stuck to the wall, so when I was bored with it I could exchange it with another 'scenery' that I kept under the bed. On the other three sides were a simple creme color wall with a black stripe in the middle of it, and every so often a picture or poster of something I was interested in. There was a cherry oak rectangular dresser with a large mirror in the center of it, on either side of it were oil burners one with the kanji for peace and the other with harmony, placed facing the foot of the bed. My closet door was painted black with a simple gold flower in the upper middle of it, which was on the left side of my bed. A shelf, matching the dresser had various books and other objects that I had. To the right of the bed was a simple bed stand with my alarm clock on it and a light. Strung around the room were colorful paper lanterns that could be lit if I plugged them up. The ceiling had a few stars painted on it that would glow if they got enough light. Finally there was a small leopard print rug at the foot of my bed to add something a bit different to the room.

"It looks nice," he said before turning around.

I turned and saw him start to head back toward the living room. I couldn't let that happen.

"Hey, I don't bite, silly. Come here, you said you liked my art," I said walking over to my shelf and pulling out a large black binder.

He walked in and took it in his hands and began looking at it, "How much time do you have?"

"A lot, well not really. I just get really preoccupied a lot," I rambled, "If I find something interesting I put it here."

"But this is a large binder," he said flipping through the pages, "How can you draw so fast?"

"I don't," I said, "I use my water element to paint."

"How?" he asked me.

"Like this," I said fining a blank canvas. I then took out a small case from the shelf and began taking out black, brown, cream, tan, lavender, white, and purple pigments out that were stored in vials.

I took each vial and opened one and placed them on the top of the canvas. Then I preformed a hand seal and produced a large glob of water that formed into tiny beads across the paper. Then the top beads slithered up and grabbed some of the pigment and each bead grabbed the now newly formed ink and sent it on down. The painting looked like it drew itself as a picture of neji looking at me was placed on the canvas. After the painting finished I stopped the chakra flow and had him look at it.

"That is very interesting," he said as he looked at it, "Why did you use me?"

"I need to physically see the object that I am using to paint, otherwise it gets blurred or distorted. Memory would be great but my memory isn't so good," I said scratching my head.

"What do you call the jutsu?" he asked me.

"I have no name for it," I told him, "If I did...I don't know. It is just like taking a picture I suppose...Maybe...I can't think of anything."

"This would be very useful when spying on enemies," he said, "You could paint exact replicas of thier faces."

"That is the problem, they could be using genjutsu to conceal themselves or be wearing masks. However there is a talent that both Yuki and I have. We can see through another's eyes. We aren't sure if it is a genjutsu or not, but we can look through their eyes or memories. Even make them our own, temporarily of course," I said taking out one particular set of drawings. Each was of the same monument in Konoha but each of them were painted through someone else's eyes, "This one was from a little girl, and old man, Yuki, and this one is Kiba."

The little girl had a more rounded and softer version of the monument, the old man had a worn faded look about his, Yuki's was bright and paled the colors, and Kibas was blended together. I brought him up to a mirror and had him look at it.

"What is the point in this?" he asked.

"I want to see how you see yourself. You already know how I see you," I said, "I won't do this unless you allow me to. I don't want you doing anything you don't want to. The jutsu doesn't hurt, nor do _you _feel anything, except normal."

"What do you mean I don't feel anything?" he asked.

"Sometimes strong feelings are tied to a certain memory, object, person, or place. Those can 'touch' us and we carry that back," I said, "The old man loved the monument so much he cries when he sees it. The little girl thinks it is a waste of space and is confused, and Kiba is Kiba..I am surprised the monument didn't turn out to be a steak, he was really hungry at the time."

"Impressionism," said Neji, "That is what you paint."

"Impression Jutsu," I giggled, "I guess it works for now. Just don't tell anyone that I can do this."

"Why not it is a talented gift," he said.

"They would use it for personal gain," I told him,"Imagine me, able to instantly paint anything I see, even for a moment. People would try to hire me to spy on people to get blackmail, maybe worse."

"The Byakugan isn't so different," he said.

"Yeah, while you see the chakra flow, I see moments in time. Perfectly preserved. What if Tsunade finds out and she wants me to paint the faces of the enemies, or places?" I asked him.

"I would gladly do it!" he said.

"You don't understand how bad this can be. I could kill thousands of people by painting a hidden village and it falling into the wrong hands. Forced to paint deaths of people, maybe even make replicas of sensitive documents and forge them for the worse," I said sighing.

"There is always danger to what you are capable of," said Neji, "As shinobi we are able to kill as much as we protect, sometimes more."

"I know," I said sitting down on my bed, "It is bad enough Yuki and I know so much about everything and we have no idea why. I have dreams of wars, people dying, places I have never seen, and I have to be a prisoner because of what I can do."

"I understand that all to well," said Neji turning to me.

"Being a branch member and having to prove your worth to the others," I said, "I know how harsh it must be. I wasn't liked by a lot of people when I was younger, they hated me. At first they were afraid of me and when they saw what kind of person I was they tried to break me. Ignoring me, avoiding me, doing all sorts of things to hurt me. Then I took all that and turned it into something else, and I became scary. If it wasn't for Yuki I would be much worse. I don't know how to treat people because I am afraid they will do the same thing that had always happened to me. I can get over it now, but it still hurts."

"What kind of person were you to make people hate you so?" asked Neji.

"I believed everyone in this world deserves a friend, someone to love them and hold them when they are sad. Someone that cares for their well being, I have been alone before and it wasn't pleasant. It hurts to breathe and everything seems dark, and all you can see is people laughing at your misery. Even if they didn't feel the same way about me, I was there when others bullied them. I remember getting in a few fights in school because of bullies," I told him, "The punches and names hurt but I was happy. I was taking the pain and loneliness away from the people who were really hurting."

Neji sat down at the foot of the bed and looked at me, "You proved to be stronger by protecting those who were weak. Even if they couldn't see that fact, they are truly the weak ones."

"Enough mushy stuff," I laughed, "I became one tough, socially awkward, wild cookie."

I said taking out another binder of people. This one had half sketches of people acting one way, and then the other half something different. I explained to him, these were people I painted what I saw within them and what they saw within themselves. Some were opposites, while others were very similar. I called these the 'True Self' portraits. I had Sakrua, Ino, Asuma, Yuki, Tsunade, and a few other people and ninja.

"Could you do one of me?" asked Neji.

"Really?" I said surprised, "You aren't afraid of what I might see?"

"It will give me a good look at what another see me as, and a chance to improve," he stated.

"Always looking for that, huh," I said as I got a blank sheet.

I got the right pigment I needed and then began the two jutsus. When it was finished I looked at it funny. One side was confident and bold while the other was a bit on the shy side and unsure. I compared the two and told him that he needed to work on forgiveness since both had a somewhat defiant, stern look of being slightly cold. After that we talked about random things from daily events to ninja techniques and other things.

**Yuki's POV**

It was the last round and I was stuck between a rock and a hard place, there was two cards in his hand and one I was sure was the Old Maid. We made things interesting by purposely taking the old maid card and I ended up singing a song while I made him dance on the spot, which wasn't really lively but it was a dance. I looked at his smug face and slowly brought my hand up in front of his cards. Statistically I had a fifty-fifty chance of winning or losing, but I wasn't going to give up.

_Come on Yuki, you can do this. It isn't life or death...focus._

I reached out and swiped the card on my right. I slowly flipped it over and gulped. I couldn't believe my eyes, I won. I looked back at him for a moment before he smiled widely.

"You let me win?" I asked him.

"No but it was amusing to watch you sweat over nothing," he said, "This was quite interesting."

"Alright, something you can work with, other than Shoji and Go. How about a game of Sudoku?" I offered.

"Too boring and easy," he sighed before looking around,"Where are Neji and Kori?"

"Knowing her, she is probably taking advantage of him as we speak," I said rolling my eyes.

"This I have got to see," he said getting up.

I jumped up and got in front of him, "No, no, no, she would kill me!"

"Well we are supposed to be your body guards, not dates," said Shikamaru placing his hands in his pockets.

"Are you just being nosy or are you trying to blow me off?" I asked him.

"Neither," he said sliding past me, "I am curious."

"Well I am sure she hasn't killed him and placed him in her closet," I said grabbing his shoulder.

"That isn't what I am worried about," he said, "Neji isn't the easiest to get along with."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

Then I heard a rather large thud emitting from her room.

"Oh my god, he killed her!" I said darting to her room.

Shikamaru casually followed me as I found myself bolting down the hallway. I skidded to a stop in front of her door and saw her doing the oddest thing. She was laughing. Not that she didn't laugh...okay she didn't laugh often enough, at least when she was around other people. Neji was sitting on her bed as she was balancing a book on her head while standing tip toed on one foot.

"This is really hard," she snickered.

"It will help with your balance," said Neji before looking around Kori, "We have company."

"Huh," said Kori before turning around too quickly and falling on Neji, "Oh my god Neji, are you okay?"

"I think the book received more damage," said Neji helping Kori up.

I saw Kori blush, and my jaw dropped when Neji followed suit. I quickly tried to make up an excuse to leave when I heard a voice behind me that made me jump.

"What is going on here?" said Shikamaru.

"Nothing!" I said after catching my heart and putting it back in my chest, "She was trying something with Neji and I interrupted her."

"Oh my god, rephrase please!" yelled Kori.

"But you were," I started, "It...oh, Kori you pervert!"

"What?" asked Kori innocently, "You were the one who said it."

"She has a point," said Shikamaru.

I turned on my heel and faced him, "Do. Not. Help. Her."

"Or what?" he asked with a mischievous grin.

"She is thinking of either breaking you or kissing you," chimed Kori.

"You are sleeping outside," I said as I blushed three shades, pointing at Kori.

"Worth it," said Kori taking the book from Neji and putting it away, "So Neji, how many times must I balance?"

"Until you can move and not fall," said Neji.

"Oh, that will be a while," muttered Kori.

"So dinner?" asked Shikamaru.

"Right," I said before heading to the kitchen, "If I hear any one of you say..."

"Back to your place woman!" said Kori giggling madly.

"I am poisoning her share," I threatened.

"Please, if you didn't love me you would have killed me ages ago," she said, "Come on, foods."

**Kori's POV**

We made Omurice and Green Tea cupcakes, for dinner. While Yuki and I were cleaning up, then I decided to randomly start singing a song I knew from my childhood. It was totally weird too.

_"Oh I wish I was a little bar of soap, swish, swish,_

_Oh I wish I was a little bar of soap._

_I'd go slippy, slippy, slidy, over hot ninja body._

_Oh I wish I was a little bar of soap."_

Of course hot ninja body wasn't in the lyrics, you usually placed a name there and then little body, but I wasn't saying Neji. Yuki giggled and the boys looked at me weird.

"What? Mom had to get the mud off me somehow, though she did use 'Kori's little body' instead. It helped when I was like four, to get me to take a bath," I said, "That and other weird stuff. So it is her fault I am so warped I swear."

"Sure~," said Yuki in a sing song voice.

"What would you rather me sing?" I asked her.

"I don't know," she said

"Oh I have got one!" I said draining the water out of the sink, "The Goodnight Rap!"

"Eh?" said Yuki, Neji, and Shikamaru.

_"A night, a night, a sleep, a tight, a don't let the bed bugs bite,_

_A dream a sweet, a dream about being a shi-no-bi!"_

"Of course grandmaw sang that to me so shinobi was grandmaw," I said drying my hands.

"Could you try an NORMAL song?" asked Yuki.

I put my finger under my chin and thought for a moment, "Eh, those are boring but I will try."

"So thought of one?" asked Yuki,"What is the first song that comes to mind?"

"It is embarrassing!" I told her.

"If you sing it, I will sing the first one that comes to my mind," she assured me.

" 'Kay," I said before starting the song.

"_I feel it everyday it's all the same_

_It brings me down but I'm the one to blame_

_I've tried everything to get away_

_So here I go again_

_Chasing you down again_

_Why do I do this?_

_Over and over, over and over_

_I fall for you_

_Over and over, over and over_

_I try not to"_

I sang until I was finished. Aside from blushing madly at the sappiness of the song I turned and grinned evilly at Yuki. She had to sing now. She frowned and her eyes began to dart around looking for an exit.

"Nara!" I called, "Grab her!"

"Why?" he casually asked.

"She is fixing to run, and if you catch her she won't beat me to death," I told him.

"That is your problem," he said.

I looked her in the eye, "Come on cough it up. OR I will suggest a song that you sing, and I can think of some pretty bad ones."

"Alright!" she said taking a step back.

_"There you see her_

_Sitting there across the way_

_She don't got a lot to say_

_But there's something about her_

_And you don't know why_

_But you're dying to try_

_You wanna kiss the girl_

_Yes, you want her_

_Look at her, you know you do_

_It's possible she wants you, too_

_There is one way to ask her_

_It don't take a word_

_Not a single word_

_Go on and kiss the girl"_

She continued to sing, and I was already gasping for air because I was laughing so hard. Though there wasn't any noise emitting from me. When she finished she looked at me smugly. The two boys just watched us as we had our silent argument and wondered what would happen. The silence was broken when one of them spoke up.

"Is this a usual thing for you to do?" asked Neji.

"Sing, dance, rock in our socks, play pranks, and tease one another?" I said, "Psht, yeah. Though most the dirt happens when no one is around. Yesterday Yuki got Lee to dance while she sang '_Shake Your Bon Bon'_. Before you ask, it was a living hysterical nightmare."

"How so?" asked Neji.

"Do not go there!" warned Yuki, "That mental image will stain forever."

"That and curiosity killed the cat," I said hoping to get Neji to drop the subject before I scarred him for life.

"No, this I have to hear," said Shikamaru probably knowing the image already and wanted to see Neji in shock.

"Okay, that green jumpsuit he wears...Now imagine this," I said beginning to shake by butt awkwardly, "While taking off that belt of his, swinging it in the air around his head, and strutting."

"AHHH!" screamed Neji.

Hell even Shikamaru shuddered, "I knew it was bad, but jesus."

"Okay here is something funny to clear your head Neji," I said before preforming the 'Jump On It' dance.

Yuki giggled and both Shikamaru and Neji had their mouths slightly hanging open. I figured that they were questioning my sanity, so I decided to threaten them.

"Gai-sensei and Lee wil learn this and I will tell them you love the dance if you call me crazy," I said.

"Evil," I heard Neji mutter.

"Aww you care!" I said sweetly.

After winding down we grabbed an extra pillow and blanket for Shikamaru and then I went into my bedroom and changed into my pink bunny pajama pants and black tank top not thinking about who was there. As I walked back into the living room Neji's eyebrow rose.

"Make fun of Thumper and I will drop kick you," I said, "He is fluffy and cute, and the only reason I am in pink."

"Never would have known," said Neji.

"Oh!" I said clasping my hands together, "Neither of you have anything to sleep in!"

They looked down at what they were wearing and then back at us. I eyed Yuki who was beside herself with naughty thoughts, I knew this because she was slightly drooling. I grabbed her by the arm and lead her back to her room and grabbed a couple of her 'sleeping shirts' which were too big for her and went to my room and grabbed a pair of dark blue and a pair of black sleeping shorts, which both the shirts and shorts were meant for a guy anyway. When we presented them with their pajamas, they looked at us with question.

"No we didn't steal these, there are no bodies in the closets or under the beds, nor are there two naked guys tied up anywhere," I said, "We like sleeping in these occasionally. What can we say, we are tomboys."

Next thing we did was watch them pick a different room to change in, while all we could think about is them taking off their shirts. When they came back we didn't even notice.

"You are on my bed," said Shikamaru, snapping us out of our daze.

Both Yuki and I shot up and began to move out of the way. Unfortunately we were so close together that we bumped into one another, bounced away, and fell to the floor. I caught myself with a cool handspring and landed, lightly bumping the wall, while Yuki on the other hand fell and tried to catch herself on Shikamaru. To my glorious amusement, she missed grabbing his waist and was very close to a certain part of his anatomy. The looks were priceless. This was going into my mental vault. After she shot up, and darted toward the hall she asked if he was okay. The Nara had to adjust his shorts, which were pulled down, thankfully not his boxers for my sake, that would make my mind wander about doing evil things to a certain ninja that was probably horrified as it was.

"I love you sis," I said happily.

Yuki laughed nervously as she quickly said goodnight and retreated back to her room. I on the other hand walked slowly towards my room, followed by Neji after saying goodnight to Shikamaru. When we reached the end of the hall I turned around quickly and my sudden stop made for an interesting surprise. My leg tangled with his and he fell face first on me, and while avoiding a head collision I dodged just enough for a face landing on my chest. I picked him up by his shoulders, planted his feet firmly on the ground, and froze there for a second. Being horrified myself now, I just gulped. I locked eyes with him.

"This never happened," I said before dropping my hands.

He nodded in agreement before I went off to Yuki's room, taking off my pants, and falling asleep.

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The songs quoted were: Over and Over by Three Days Grace, and Ashley Tisdale version of Kiss the Girl from The Little Mermaid.

**Alphenwolf **Hehehe, well I may play with the pantsless thing later, I am debating a time skip...and I am glad you like crazy because they are full of it. As for the hint thing...Hell sometimes I review in the chapter, sometimes I do not. It depends. I guess I am going to make it a habit of reviewing in the story chapter though, makes it easier.

**SilverMusic **I forgive you...I promise. I was just unsure what you were doing with the comments. Not that I am complaining, I am happy to give you more chapters and torment you with waiting on a new one.

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**River: **I hope my other readers who I do not know liked the story too, I enjoyed writing this chapter...and I couldn't stop...BUT hehehe...I have a really good idea about who I am bringing in as the next guard or at least the next chapter...Kakashi along with his Make-Out Paradise books. *Insert evil laugh*

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto...If I did Neji would SO be mine! That and I would be REALLY tempted to do things with characters that isn't meant for a child's eyes.

Do not post any of my work on another site without permission. If you steal my work I will find you, ninja into your house and leave lots of traps for you to wake up to and have to deal with...You would live but you would be in lots of pain for a while...hehehehe.

Love it or see something that needs improved (spelling/grammar) leave a review. They make me feel all warm and fuzzy when I read them. That and it helps with creativity.


	10. Chapter 10: Pants, Perv, and Wha?

I woke up in my room heartbroken. I was in my room, that meant that the two bishi shinobi were a total whacked out dream. Not that I was complain, it would be better off that way of not having a certain Hyuga remember that he face planted my chest. I could smell what would be soon my breakfast, _Yuki must be up, might as well go tell her what happened. I could smooze it up too, make her happy, _I thought to myself as I climbed out of bed and fixed the sheets. I rounded the doorway and was in the middle of the hallway before it donned on me that I had to seem happy over a dream for Yuki to believe me. So I put on my best doopey grin and began skipping and dancing down in the hallway to the kitchen.

To make it even more believable I squeed in my best fan girl voice, courtesy of remembering 'Sasuke-kun!' from Sakura and Ino, and closed my eyes. I then ran, jumped and hugged as hard as I could the body in front of the stove. After assaulting the body, I danced my 'extra' happy dance, shaking my booty from side to side, spinning in a circle, and moving my arms up and down above my head.

"Oh my god Yuki, you will never believe the dream I had!" I started babbling away, "Both Shikamaru and Neji were here! And! I didn't make a total fool of myself! Me and Neji talked about all sorts of things and he had me do this weird balancing thing but I wanted to kiss him, and before I could you walked in on us and caused me to fall. Then you and Shikamaru had a bit of a spat, it was soooo cute! Then when we told the boys goodnight, because even if it was a dream I can't be doing anything sneaky now could I? And you and Shikamaru...Well you almost pantsed him...and then you went to bed and I thought I passed out in your room because my bed was occupido with Neji and I really wanted to cuddle but that would be wrong, or because I dreamt he was in my bed and I didn't cuddle him it was wrong..."

I stopped with by back turned and stood there for a moment before spotting a pink haired kunochi in the hallway. _Sakura? Am I still dreaming? _I thought before it finally clicked. That wasn't Sakrua, that was Yuki. _If that was Yuki then who is...? _I turned to see a very, very confused Neji. I paled and then all the blood that was in my body rushed to my face. I wanted to die of shame.

"Why do you not have pants?" asked Neji very calmly.

"Pants off dance off!" I blurted out before awkwardly dancing to Yuki, down the hallway, and when I was sure I wasn't spotted began to hurridly walk to my room.

It would have been fine if I hadn't of bumped into Shikamaru who smirked, "So did you get lucky, or is this still the dream I heard you talking about?"

I couldn't let him get one up on me, "Oh I so got lucky last night. Neji is even being kind enough to make me breakfast, see isn't he so nice."

"Really?" said Shikamaru before grabbing me by the shoulders and leading me back to the kitchen.

Struggling would only prove I was lying so I put on a the best fake smile I could do before being hugged by Shikamaru who turned to Yuki and I thought I was hallucinating because I thought I saw him wink. Then Shikamaru passed me to Yuki who hugged me with her arms just above my elbows, and that confused me even more. _The only reason she does that is so I don't kill someone for something they did wrong..._

"Yuki, you owe me five ryo," said Shikamaru, "She believed it."

I tensed up and was about to pounce and beat the living daylights out of Shikamaru, but before I could I had to get the story straight.

"So what was the bet?" I said as calmly as possible.

"That if you woke up in your bed, which you are heavy, that when you woke up you would believe this was a dream. I bet you would have come straight to me, Shikamaru bet that you would embarrass yourself BEFORE you came to me. He won," said Yuki.

" I. Will. END. You." I said between struggling and trying to make Yuki knock herself out on the wall.

"You both owe me ten," said Neji.

This stopped me, "Why?"

"I told them that you would be upset," he said finishing the cooking.

"You were in on it!" I squeaked.

Half of me was heartbroken and the other half of me was totally excited. This side of Neji I didn't know about, and I liked it. Well this called for payback. Yuki was going down! So I used my transformation technique to turn into her. Confused the poor, unsuspecting victim let me go. I immediately threw off my shirt and tossed it on her face so she couldn't see what I was doing.

"Vengeance!" I said in her body.

Yuki just sat there for a moment when it clicked in her mind what I did, "Kori, three seconds is all you have before I find out what you did."

"Feh," I huffed before transforming into Choji to payback Shikamaru.

"Oh. My. God!" said Shikamaru, "My EYES!"

Yuki took the shirt off her face and screamed, "CHANGE BACK! CHANGE BACK!"

There in my black sports bra and neon blue boy shorts with red lettering of the word Cheeky across the rear, was Choji. That was all it took to break them. I smirked and transformed back to my original form.

"And this is why you don't mess with a master!" I high fived myself and took my shirt back from Yuki.

"Thank god for Byakugan," muttered Neji as he turned off the eye of the stove.

I went back into my bedroom and changed into my usual ninja outfit before returning to get some breakfast. Shikamaru and Yuki were quiet, I wasn't sure I horrified them out of their minds, or they were just not up to speaking at that point in time. As I made coffee and stood at the island Neji had already made enough for everyone and was eating.

"Thanks for breakfast," I said as I bit into it, "Its good. So why did Yuki team up with Shikamaru for the prank this morning?"

"I am not sure," said Neji between bites, "Ask them yourself."

"I would but I think I broke their minds," I said happily.

"No you didn't," said Shikamaru, "I was just reminding myself never to mess with you again."

"Ep," muttered Yuki.

"Oh come on it wasn't that bad," I tried to assure her.

"Do that again and look in a mirror," she told me flatly.

I looked at the clock and realized that we had to meet Tazno and our sensei at the park for our mission in an hour. I quickly devoured what was left of my plate and went to Yuki's room and got her gear out for her. When she finished eating I rushed her into the bathroom and tossed everything at her before returning to the living room. I talked with the guys for a while before Yuki was out of the shower and dressed. Thankfully she wasn't running late this morning so I ushered her out of the door before turning to the guys.

"Take your time, we will be back soon," I told them, "We are going to be in the care of sensei so, it shouldn't be too dangerous."

I shut the door and began walking. Both Yuki and I were just off the steps before Shikamaru and Neji were behind us, dressed, and looking like they had just showered. I wasn't questioning the whole why they looked freshly showered, they were awesome ninja with mad skills so getting ready should be a cinch for them. Well after scaring me half to death, the walk was quite awkward with a long silence. So frustrated I decided to terrorize everyone more.

"For every awkward silence a gay baby is born!" I yelled out in seriousness even posing.

Yuki killed the joke by falling on the ground because she was laughing so hard. I just looked at her in frustration and stepped over her.

"Mood killer," I said grimly.

It was shortly after that when we made our way to the training grounds and looked for sensei and Tanzo. A few seconds later Hayama appeared before us.

"Where is Tanzo?" we asked him.

"Hiding, your exercise is to find and subdue him," Hayama explained, "You have two hours, if you fail you will have to clean the park by yourselves. When you capture him you must put him in bounds which is ten feet around where I am going to be."

He set the timer and started it. I looked at Yuki and grinned. She was already in her thoughts to where Tanzo might be, so I decided to play stupid.

"Sensei how big is the grounds?" I asked innocently.

"One square kilometer*," he said.

"Okay," I told him, then I looked at Yuki, "Know where he is yet?"

You search near the Memorial, I am going to check the other way," she said walking off after giving me some directions to follow.

I turned to the guys who had sat down near sensei, "No helping!"

I then followed Yuki's directions perfectly but I could not find Tanzo. So I decided to search a little on my own, and after a while I gave up and headed back to where Yuki told us to meet. When I got there Yuki was already waiting for me. Being very paranoid I decided to ask her a question.

"Hey Yuki," I asked, "What am I to you?"

"My sister," she answered.

She stood there for a moment and looked at me funny after giving her answer. That told me that she wasn't Yuki so I attacked her. I quickly reached into my kunai holder and grabbed one that had and explosive tag on it, breaking the wire that attached them together. I threw the kunai and the impostor dodged it easily. I used this to 'bum rush' her and went to slide into their legs. They jumped up and rolled away, so I scrambled up and dove onto the body, sticking the tag on their back before rolling away. The impostor got up and prepared some kunai to be tossed at me but I was giggling.

"What is so funny?" asked the fake Yuki.

"Tag your it!" I said preforming the hand seal to get the tag to explode.

It worked perfectly and the impostor was knocked forward enough for me to finish it off with a swift kick to the ribs and an elbow to the back of their neck. The fake Yuki turned out to be Tanzo, who was now unconscious. I quickly bound his hands in wire and began dragging his body back to where Hayama and the others were. When I arrived I only had two minutes left to finish so I quickly tossed Tanzo as far as I could, which wasn't really that far, but enough to get him 'in bounds'. I did a happy dance right before a pink blur attacked me.

"What took you so long!" yelled Yuki.

"Um, he is heavy?" I told her, "Hey what is the answer to everything?"

"Forty-two," she quickly said, "Duh, everyone knows that!"

"Yay!" I said hugging her, "Yuki!"

"Do I want to know?" she said as I hugged her.

Tanzo woke up and was a bit frustrated at the fact he was caught, "I mimicked her perfectly."

"Yeah but the real Yuki would have beat me half to death for not finding you when she told me exactly what to do and I still did my own thing. It isn't healthy to ignore her directions," I laughed.

"I am not that bad," she said getting flustered.

"I know but you are when it comes to me," I said.

"Well that is because you never listen, always think you know everything, and always get into trouble," she said untying Tanzo.

"So?" I giggled.

We ended up still having to clean the park but at least we were able to get Tanzo to help. It was about noon when we were finished. Walking back home we ran into an unexpected person.

"Kakashi!" I squeed.

He still had his nose in his book so Yuki and I tried to tackle him, though he nimbly dodged it and kept walking.

"Hey two cute girls wanted to talk to you and you are ignoring us?" said Yuki.

He lifted his head and looked at us, "You just tried to tackle me."

"Well you didn't respond to my Kakashi earlier," I said, "So Icha Icha?"

"Yes, I am four chapters into it? Do you know the series?" asked Kakashi.

"We know _of _and who writes it, but we haven't read any," I told him, "So can I see?"

"I don't think this is a book meant for children," he told us.

"What? I know Naruto reads this, isn't he with Jiraiya?" I said trying to convince him to let me read the book.

"Really?" he said sounding unconvinced.

"Alright fine," I huffed, "I bet I can read the first page aloud to everyone."

"Kori," Yuki warned me, "I don't think that is the best way to do things. You never think! What if it is so horrible that it will warp the minds of everyone?"

"What are you talking about," I replied, "You are already warped."

"Baka," she said, "That is not what I meant."

"How about this," Kakashi proposed, "Just look at the page I am reading."

"Okay," I said before looking at the page. I read two paragraphs, "No way is she THAT limber!"

"Nani?" said Kakashi before grabbing the book, "I have read this and I am sure he didn't..."

"Just kidding Kakashi," I said, "I hope the character isn't that cheesy through the book. It isn't bad, but I am sure Jiraiya can do better. Guess I will have to read and find out."

"I don't know whether to call you a sick freak, or just drop the subject," said Yuki.

"Better drop it then," I said, "Anyways Kakashi, I can draw that if you want me to."

I think hearts appeared in his eyes and blushed, but I couldn't tell. His damn mask was in the way.

"Really?" he said, "I wouldn't mind seeing this."

"Hey you can't see the art until it is finished!" I teased, "I can find you later and show you some of my art."

"Perv," muttered Yuki.

"I heard that," I looked at her, "It isn't my fault that I am so awesome."

"No pervert, that isn't awesome. That is just plain wrong," she told me.

"Shut it or I will draw a certain ninja, in a certain way, with another one of their team mates that would scar you for the rest of your life."

Yuki shuddered, "Neve rmind then pervert."

"How much longer are you going to call me that?" I asked her.

"Until I forget, perv," she smiled.

"The main character whispered to his love, 'I will not leave you, I swear it'. She blushed slightly and looked so beautiful under the full moonlight. Looking deep into his eyes, 'You promise?'" I began quoting.

"What was that?" asked Shikamaru.

"What Yuki here is calling me a pervert for," I said, "Hell they were taking a moonlight stroll, he was only thinking about taking her to bed. His imagination isn't so great either."

"Eh?" said Yuki.

"All I am saying is that he was blushing over inviting her to his room, that is how far I got," I shrugged, "I was speaking of the part where she was looking up at him with stars in her eyes. What were you thinking I was talking about? So who is exactly perverted here...Yuki."

"That is a pervy book written by a pervy old guy for pervy people," said Yuki while throwing a cute looking tantrum that screamed 'I will beat you with pillows'.

"Kakashi isn't that pervy," I said trying to defend him, "At least he doesn't want his student's bodies!"

"EW!" said Yuki giggling, "I know right."

A small cough behind us reminded us that Neji and Shikamaru were still present. After saying goodbye to Kakashi we headed to the hospital to get our check up. After that we decided to get lunch before we did anything else. At the restraunt we bumped into Hinata.

"Hinata," I said grabbing her from behind and hugging her, "Long time no see!"

"U-um," she said startled, "K-kori, Yuki, h-how are you?"

"Fine," we said.

"Oh Nii-sama, is this the important mission Hokage assigned you to?" she said looking at Neji.

"Yes," he said sighing as if defeated.

"Well look at it this way," I beamed, "While you aren't getting some combat experience, you are getting some social! I am sure Tsunade had her reasons."

Neji looked at me, "Of course she did."

I tilted my head to the side and looked at him and blinked before returning to the conversation with Hinata. We ended up getting a table together and had light conversation while eating. After we ate Hinata walked us to the door.

"Nii-sama, father wanted to know when the next time you were free," said Hinata.

"He can be free now if it is important," I interrupted while looking at Neji, "We can be watched by Shikamaru."

"Or she can go with you," suggested Yuki.

I grabbed Yuki and hissed in her ear, "It is important, shut up woman! I am so not interrupting a Hyuga Clan thing. Besides your suggestion is making me look like a weird stalker fan girl."

"No i-it isn't anything l-like that," said Hinata.

I then pulled Hinata in close so I could talk to her, "Look if it is anything like I think it is, then let him go. I know right now he is on a mission, but it won't take but a few hours and I promise not to get into trouble."

"O-okay," said Hinata before turning to Neji, "I-if it is alright with you, we can leave now."

Neji thought about it for a moment before turning to me, "I will not abandon the mission."

"Psht, we aren't THAT important, and if it makes you feel any better we can go to the training grounds right beside the Hyuga Compound. We won't be far and you will have the best of both worlds," I said calmly, "Besides, I am sure this can't wait. It might be super important."

With that option and a lot of convincing, more or less me heading off to the Hyuga Compound dragging Yuki behind me, we were on our way. As we were closer to the complex, Neji tried to tell us repeatedly that it wasn't that important and he could try again later, but I knew it was because he was so nervous. I just tried, and failed, to make random jokes that were too corny. So I then switched to talking to Hinata about med-nin stuff. She told me she was okay at the art but she didn't have the skill of that of Tsunade or Sakura who had just learned Shōsen Jutsu. Then she told me it was harder to do this jutsu because you needed excellent chakra control otherwise you risk putting a patient into a coma. So I knew what I was going to do, work on my chakra control.

When we arrived Hinata asked me what element I was and when I told her she suggested that I create a globe of water with my hands and hold it there for an hour, after I could manage that I should slowly rotate the water in the globe. If I could manage to do that for a few hours that would give me excellent chakra control. When she and Neji left, I decided to sit down under some trees and try out the globe of water trick. Carefully I began to kneed the chakra into some water and exert it through my hands. It was simple enough but when trying to focus it into a bubble I either put too much and it exploded, or not enough and it fell apart. After a few minutes Yuki became bored and decided to play 'Twenty Questions' with Shikamaru.

I happily tried to listen in on their game but the distraction took too much for me to try and control the flow of chakra and listen at the same time. So I had to shut out their conversation. I then shut my eyes and began to try the process for a second time, but I couldn't tell what I was doing and ended up soaking my lap. About six tries and god knows how much time later, I managed to get a small marble sized one to sit on the palm of my hand. I then slowly worked on trying to make it bigger before Yuki's laughter broke my concentration and the water exploded in my hand, splashing my face. Frustrated, I growled at her and she covered her mouth before I tried again.

**Yuki's POV**

I looked at a half soaked Kori and I couldn't help myself, she looked pathetic. I couldn't blame her for trying something new, she was really good at medicine and chakra control anyway. When Hayama trained her and I in climbing trees with just our feet, she was the first one of us up, Tanzo could do it in one shot but he was more experienced than we were so we didn't count him.

"I am thinking of a person," I told Shikamaru.

"Are they a shinobi?" he asked.

"Yes," I answered.

"Are they a girl or a boy?" he asked again.

"Girl," I answered.

"Ino," he sighed.

"Okay you got it," I told him, "Your turn."

"Okay I am thinking of a place," he started.

"Where you and Asuma play shoji," I told him.

"Correct," he said, "You are thinking of the Hot Springs."

"How did you guess?" I said blushing.

"You relaxed a bit when it came to mind so I figured that you would think of that," he told me.

"Uh-oh," I said tugging on his sleeve, "It is the size of a small ball...Three, two...YES!"

I watched as the bubble splattered everywhere, and heard Kori muttering curses. I could tell that she could use a break, she was starting to breathe a bit heavier. So getting up I waited until she was in full concentration and snuck up. As she finally made a ball again I was close enough to pounce her. So I jumped at her and faked a roar. She jumped out of her skin, the water globe left her hands, and then busted on top of her head. She looked at me with daggers and then with venom started calling me all sorts of names.

"You pink haired, loud mouthed, hyperactive, head in the clouds, violent, annoying, stupid," she said.

"You are exhausted," I reminded her.

"No I am not!" she tried to convince me.

"Okay stand up," I said backing away.

She stood up perfectly fine but when she tried to step towards me she wobbled slightly. She caught herself easily enough and managed to make it, rather quickly, over to me and punch me in the shoulder before muttering some more words.

"Alright stubborn!" I said becoming irritated at her, "Bring it!"

I aimed a right hook at her jaw but she ducked under it and tried to kick me in the ribs. Blocking I grabbed her ankle and crouched so I could sweep her leg out in from under her. Jumping up, she used her free leg to bat me away by pushing off on my shoulders. Landing she charged and me and jumped up and tried an axe kick but I brought up my arms and cradled the kick and pushed her off. She flipped backward and before she landed I had stepped up and aimed a kick at her side. This knocked her away and she landed a few feet away and skidded to a stop. She rushed me again but I wasn't expecting her to stop just short my my arms and she preformed a back flip again, landing a kick on my jawline. I was knocked up enough to have my feet leave the ground, and she quickly landed and dove through the air tackling me. I curled up my legs under her and pushed her off me before she could punch me again. Then before she left my reach I grabbed her wrist, brought her back to me, and elbowed her in the face. We both landed on the ground, but instead of falling on the ground laying on my back, I rolled back and hopped up on my feet. Kori got up and wiped some of the blood off her chin and looked at me defiantly before she charged again. This time I punched out but she side stepped out of the way and kicked me in the knee. This caused me to bend it and she stepped on it, climbed my body and when she was on my shoulder, she tried kicking me in the face. I threw my body back and bent in the air. When she missed, I used this to jerk her down and kick her back up into the air. When I landed I jumped up above her and kicked her back down to the ground.

"Had enough yet?" I asked her.

"Not even close," she said getting up and facing me.

I clapped my hands together, "Fūton: Reppūshō!"

Kori had familiarized herself with my justu and countered, "Suiton: Suihachi!"

Both collided and didn't do very much other than spray water everywhere. This was getting no where fast, so I had to think of something. An idea popped into my head as I went for my kunai. I tossed them, aiming more at the ground than her and she jumped out of the way. Darting to her I acted like I was going to kick her, and she took the bait. She grabbed my foot to flip around and kick me but I had already preformed the hand seals for the body replacement technique. As she grabbed she found herself kicking a log. She looked behind her just as I aimed a hard hook just under her jaw. As she crashed to the ground, I landed and checked to see if she was breathing. I didn't want to kill her, thankfully I just knocked her out. She would be upset with me when she woke up, but it was better that I knock her out than she pass out and blame herself for not being able to manipulate jutsu well enough.

I hoisted her over my shoulder and moved her beside Shikamaru as he looked at me wierd.

"Is this how you settle arguments?" he asked.

"Not usually, she was just being too hard on herself and would have kept going until she passed out if I had let her," I said taking a seat, "The will be pissed, but she will thank me for it."

"She looked exhausted when she punched you," he said, "How did she keep up?"

I looked at him in the eye an giggled, "Stubborn ass is what she is, but word of warning never underestimate Kori. If she puts her mind to something, it gets done."

"Troublesome," he sighed.

"Yeah but what are you going to do, she is my sister," I said placing my hand on my knee and looked up at the clouds, "I wonder when he will be back."

Shikamaru turned to me and pointed behind my shoulder, "Now would be a good guess."

Neji had come back from his business at the Hyuga house. Before he said anything he saw Kori laying unconscious and just raised an eyebrow. I then had to tell him what happened. Then I explained since I knocked her out, and lied, that I was too tired to carry her. Shikamaru just walked off with his hands in his pockets. After hearing the roit act from Neji, he picked her up and followed us back to the apartment. _Evil Gai sensei and pushing stupid stubborn 'Stronger than tomorrow' stuff into the minds of his students. I hate Kori for being such a child; evil, stupid, stubborn, melodramatic, ugh!_ I thought to myself as a rain cloud began forming over my head. As I walked passed Shikamaru up the stairs he saw the aura I was giving off and started to say something but chose it was best if he didn't. Thank god he didn't, I wasn't in the mood for cheering up, I wasn in the mood to kill little chocolate squares by boiling them in a pot and dipping unsuspecting fruits and other snacks into it as I imagined them screaming in pain. Constructive sadistic streak is what I had at the moment.

When we made it into the apartment Neji placed her on the couch before making her an ice pack as I began making chocolate covered treats. I got all the supplies I needed and took out some caramel squares, molds, strawberries, and pretzels to make the treats. I used a knife to make the caramel smaller before placing some in the molds and putting up the rest of the caramel. After the pot was ready I put the chocolate in there and started on melting it. About halfway through the strawberries Kori woke up.

"My head," she groaned, "If there wasn't a delicious smell of chocolate and good strawberries, I would kill you Yuki."

"Try to eat them and I kill you," I threatened.

"Did I piss you off that much?" she asked.

"Come over here and find out," I said imagining dumping the whole pot of boiling liquid on her head.

"No thanks I want to keep my eyebrows. You plus angry plus way of harming me in reach, not good for my health," she said as I heard the ice pack hit the ground, "One headache is all I need. No more injuries."

"Clean yourself up and come over here and help," I told her sighing.

**Kori POV**

I went to get up and go to the bathroom but I found it occupied at the moment, so I went to my room and found some headache medicine and took it. Not too long after I heard the bathroom door open and I saw Neji begin to leave with the first aid kit. I hurried up to him and asked him to hand over the box so I could clean myself up.

"I am not sure you want to know what happened," he said.

"I know what happened, I still feel the pain," I said.

"Well she did beat you up pretty badly and you can't see what you are doing," he said.

"There is a mirror in my room," I said pointing.

The next thing I knew Yuki was yelling at me again, "What ever it is, my sister senses are going off! Come here!"

"Shit," I hissed, "Why! Why is big sister status come with super hearing!"

I drug my feet and walked slowly to the kitchen with my head down. Yuki was already turned and had a hand on her hip pointing at me.

"What did you do?" she asked.

"Nothing!" I said holding my hands up in front of me, "Neji just had the first aid box and I told him I could do it myself but then he told me that I didn't want to know how bad it was...So there."

"Let him do it, besides you could have broken your nose," she said giving me the 'your an idiot for not taking a hot man's help' look.

"But," I tried to argue but was cut short by a deadly glare, "Fine."

I marched over to the couch and sat down while Neji got out the bandages and cloth to patch and clean me up. I was too upset with myself to enjoy the fact Neji was the one doing it so I pouted. I can have my childish moments. After he wiped the blood off my face he began to put the band-aids on where needed. Apparently my eyebrow, left cheek, lip, and bridge of my nose had cuts on them. I was just lucky that Yuki didn't fuck me up as much as she could have. After he was finished I got up and began helping Yuki, who was now filling the molds with chocolate. When we finished, we took turns dipping pretzels until all the chocolate was gone.

After we were finished we made dinner and both Yuki and I showered. When the dessert was finished we passed out some of the chocolates to Neji and Shikamaru and ate some before putting the rest away for later. Thankfully they both liked the snacks and we sat and decided to watch a movie. Thank god for the couch being sorta small, with all four of us on there, it looked liked we were half cuddling. When the movie was over it was time for us to got to sleep. I was the first to get up, followed by Neji, but Yuki decided to stay behind to bid Shikamaru goodnight. Walking down the hallway Neji grabbed my arm and stopped me.

"About this morning," he said, "When you said you were talking about wanting to kiss me."

"Oh god, I thought you would forget that," I said blushing, "Alright, I like you...a lot. With everything that has been happening I thought you would have ran away screaming. So yes, I wanted to kiss you but then you had me do that wierd balance thing and then Yuki interrupted us...and then the face plant..Um, does this make me a weird freak for liking you?"

"No it does not," he said.

"Um," I said looking for the courage to ask, "Why did you want to know?"

"I was curious, and that would explain why you react like you do around me," he said.

"Oh," I said trying not to sound upset, "Well now you know so I am going to bed now."

I tried darting away but silly me forgot that he had my arm, he tried saying something but I was already in mid step and jerked him forward and me back. I twisted around and tried to catch him but I was too tired to stop his fall, only cushion it. We both fell on the floor with him being on top of me and our faces very close together. My mind was flipping out and I was sure that I was blushing because my face felt like it was on fire. Unfortunately my body overpowered my brain at that moment and I leaned up and kissed him. I was there for two seconds before my mind caught up with me and I quickly broke the kiss and freaked out.

"Please don't kill me!" I whispered, since my courage left me.

He looked at me a moment and then closed his eyes exhaling very slowly. I was very sure I had pissed him off for violating his personal space and kissed him without permission. He rose up enough for me to quickly slide out from under him, get up, and begin retreating to Yuki's room. Two steps in I was caught, turned around, and planted so I could look at him. For a second I thought his eyes were boring a hole into my brain but he relaxed and closed his eyes. I could tell he was searching for words, probably trying not to sound to harsh for when he told me he didn't like me back.

"I am not going to kill you," he said before locking eyes with me again, "It took me by surprise that is all. A shinobi doesn't have time to socialize, nor is it a guarantee that they will live a long life. I could be killed at any point in my missions. Also being attached to someone can lead to a distraction when on missions..."

"I see," I said biting my lip to keep my focus, "If that is how you want it then...I tried."

"Let me finish," he said, "Also you are entrusted with protecting those of your village with the skills that you learn. Something worth fighting for, the Will of Fire. I once thought that I had to prove myself to others to gain attention, but after the strongest opponent I have ever faced showed me that I didn't have to. You have come along and saw what I was in a glace, I think I would like to find out what else there is to fight for."

"Wha?" I started to say before I was cut off by him surprising me with a kiss.

I was sure my mind went blank and I froze. After breaking the kiss I was still standing there with a surprised look on my face. He turned me back around and escorted me to Yuki's room. By that time, I had a grin from ear to ear about what had happened, and when the time came for us to say goodnight, I didn't want to. I sighed and told him goodnight before crawling into Yuki's bed and falling asleep, on cloud nine.

* * *

The size of the training grounds that I am using is this:

1 square kilometer is about .5 square mile: So about 13939200 square feet. 320 Acres. So it is kinda big, but I am not sure on the exact size of Konoha, which I am assuming is about the size of New York City, which is pretty big. The training grounds is the one right next to Konoha Memorial...

A map of Konoha can be found here: http:/s439. photobucket .com /albums/ qq117 /TalaTati19 /Anime-Manga /Naruto /? action=view¤t; = konohasatocopy .jpg &sort= ascending (take out the many spaces)

The two girl's apartment is actually in between the barbecue place (Yakiniku Q) and the ramen place (Ramen Ichiraku), but a bit closer to Yakiniku. Pointing out the "south eastern side" comment made in an earlier chapter, it was referring to which building they were in of the complex. Thought I would clear that up.

* * *

Shōsen Jutsu- Mystical Palm Technique- allows the user to speed up the body's natural healing process by sending chakra from their hands into a wound or afflicted body part. It can be used to treat both external and internal injuries. It is vital to match the amount of chakra used to the severity of the affliction or injury. By sending an excess amount of chakra into the patient's body, the user can overload the patient's normal circulation, trapping them in a comatose state.

Fūton: Reppūshō- Wind Release: Violent Wind Palm- A simple technique that when the users hands are clapped together, wind is compressed and transformed into a powerful gale

Suiton: Suihachi- Water Release: Water Wave Palm- The user emits a continuous jet of water from their hand to strike the enemy and disrupt their attack

* * *

**Alphenwolf: **Thanks for the idea, but I preformed 'upgrade jutsu' on it with my mad writer skillz! I am also glad that you liked the Impression Jutsu. As for the living situation, I don't know if you are saying you would run for your life, or being a perv. Either one is acceptable and I am giggling madly because of it.

**SilverMusic: **You caught me, I am a HUGE Disney fan and nerd. That is one of the only other things I watch other than Anime. Heck I am in my twenties and cry when a sappy part is on in a Disney movie. *Snicker* Her name isn't Karin, it is Kori that has the Impression Jutsu. I have an idea what I want to give Yuki but I haven't figured out everything. Yes, they are evil masterminds, the kissing scene proves it...

* * *

**River: **Sweet, a mushy ending for the chapter, and Whew! The chappies are getting longer by the minute...so to speak. That and I keep popping them out like bunnies do babies...don't ask about the weird analogy, that is how my brain works. So we know what happened with Kori, now is the question...What happened with Yuki? You find out in the next chapter!


	11. Chapter 11: Crazy Comes in Handy

Doing the replies early this chappy:

**SilverMusic: **It is okay, I forgive you...everyone has had a moment where they call someone by a different name. I too have had this happen. Neji's conversation with Kori was sort of a 'branching' out thing. About half 'I like you back' and half 'friends' thing. As for Yuki and Shikamru...hehehe...I have a plan for those two.

**Alphenwolf: **Yeah you are a 'shy' type. It is adorable...if I were to stick you as a character in here, it would be hilarious to see. Yes, they both are, but shhh they are not supposed to scare the boys away. Well we can't have Shikamaru win all the time, he is to lazy to care about stuff sometimes. As for the punishments, they are bound to get wilder and crazier depending on the 'victim'. As I mentioned earlier, you never know.

With that said, enjoy the new chapter:

* * *

I woke up early and was feeling a bit stiff so instead of the usual routine I decided on taking a trip to the hot springs. I rolled over and found that the bed was missing a Yuki and began to get worried that I overslept. I jumped out of bed, made sure I had pants on, and darted down the hallway to the kitchen. First morning's light filtered in through the windows and surprisingly it was the only light source in the room. Confused I looked to my right into the living room and could have sat there all morning just watching the cuteness of the sight. There on the couch was Shikamaru all sprawled out on the couch, having fell over from what looked to be a sitting position, and Yuki. She was on the opposite end of the couch curled up into a ball with her hand stick in the Nara's messy hair. This told me two things. One, she had stayed up late talking with him and probably fell asleep on the couch, and two, I needed to invest in a camera.

I knew people had a strange way of sleeping. Some people slept neatly, others did not, but when two bodies are close to one another subconsciously you ended up touching in some form. Either by cuddling, or in Yuki's case, her hand rested on his head in what probably was an attempt to either brush it, relax him, or happened sometime during the night. I quietly tore myself away from the scene for a moment to try and give them a few more minutes of peace before Shikamaru woke up. Before I was able to turn around though, Shikamaru had woken up and rose up stretching, and by the looks of it he didn't realize he was attached to anything.

"What are you doing here?" he yawned.

"Nothing," I whispered, "But don't move, you have something in your hair."

"Huh?" he said before brushing his hand over his locks and finding a hand.

He gently removed the hand and sat it back down on Yuki's lap and I looked at him with a 'tell me what happened to my sister with you or I will assume all the worst things and kill you' look. He shrugged and got up before muttering what I thought was a nothing before he lazily walked by me to the bathroom. Sighing I had to wake Yuki up from her sleep so we could get ready for our mission today, which was re-painting the faded rooms and repairing some of the minor things at the Academy. Walking over to her side, I gently nudged her, she growled at me and told me the five more minutes line. I frowned. So I lied to her and told her that I saw her making out with Shikamaru on the couch. That woke her up alright, and I had to fight a very pissed Yuki off me.

"I have enough bruises!" I told her as I pulled her off me.

"Don't say things like that!" she said landing her final punch against my shoulder, leaving a bruise, "He isn't like that you know!"

"Yeah right, he is a guy," I rolled my eyes, "So what happened?"

"What do you mean?" she looked at me funny.

"I wake up without you beside me, in that bed hogging ball of yours, then come in here to see if you were making breakfast to find you snuggled up to Shikamru. Well not snuggled but you had your hand all in his hair," I told her.

"Well we talked all night and I think I passed out," she said, "I didn't touch him or anything!"

"Well I blame hormones and unconsciousness on that one," I said already forming a plot. So did you at least tell Shikamaru you like him?"

"Y-yes," stuttered Yuki, "He, um...likes me too."

I knew she was lying. She avoided all eye contact with me. So I did what any good sister would do. I knocked her out, and then drug her to her room, locked the door and transformed into her. Then I waited until Shikamaru was out of the bathroom and approached him. He looked at me and shrugged his shoulders before returning to the living room.

"That isn't going to work Kori," he muttered, "What are you up to?"

I frowned and transformed back, "Nothing too wild. I just wanted to talk to you before Yuki wakes back up."

"Oh," he said before narrowing his eyes, "Meddling in others affairs isn't wise."

"Well when it comes to what I am about to say then yes, yes it does," I said, "Or is. Anyway, What do you think of my sister?"

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"As a friend," I said trying to avoid the subject for now.

"Well," he huffed, "She is worried about you a lot, and thinks things through, sometimes over thinking them. She is always trying to look happy even when something is bugging her, I don't see how this matters."

"It does to me," I said, "I don't want my sis hanging around people who don't respect her."

"I am tired of this," he said sitting down with his hands propping up his chin, "I like her as a person, she is a really good person to have a conversation with. Though if you really want to know how I feel about her, there is no way I am telling you."

"I will take that as a yes," I said crossing my finger over my heart, "Secret is safe with me."

"I did not imply anything other than I like her as a friend," he said looking up at me.

"Oh I know, but I peeked into your words and you so _like_ her," I smiled, "She isn't too pretty, and damn sure isn't ugly. She is willing to take things slow, she is very intelligent, and she doesn't try to over power you with her personality."

"Why must you be so frustrating," he sighed, "This is why I don't like dealing with you."

"Girls?" I said, "Her ninja mind games are harmless, I am sure about that. Right now she is only concerned with making sure you are a friend."

"Are you trying to guilt me into being friends with her?" he asked.

"Fuck no!" I said, "She would kill me, reanimate me, kill me again, and then beat my corpse until I am nothing but jelly. She is scary like that."

"KORI!" I heard before I was finding myself in the floor with her foot on my chest, "Why did you knock me out?"

"Prank day?" I lied.

She increased the pressure on my chest before looking at Shikamaru, "Is she bugging you?"

"Yes," he said.

"I," said before she put enough pressure on me to keep me from breathing,"Choking...not..p-pinning."

"Sorry about that," said Yuki, "She gets crazy ideas in her head and then she tries to get them to work."

_Yuki, I am sorry about this but I am going to request the help of Ino...before the day is up, you will have to say you like him. Shikamaru, I am sorry but it is for the better. _I thought to myself before using substitution justu to replace my body with a pillow. After being free, I went to the bathroom and showered in extra hot water, suggesting the hot springs right now would only guarantee me and drowning. After I was finished I grabbed a clean pair of clothes, that had yet to be put away and still rested on the washer in a basket, that I didn't mind getting ruined and changed. After that I knocked on my door hoping that Neji would already be awake.

"Morning already?" I heard him say.

"Yep!" I said in the doorway, "Are you decent? I need to put some laundry away before I hatch an insidious plot against my sister and do my mission."

"Yes," he said as I entered my room.

He was already out of bed and putting on his shirt, I tried not to frown. His hair was slightly messy with the 'slept in' look but it still looked soft enough to brush my hands through. Thankfully his back was turned so he didn't see me physically twitch as my mind and body were fighting over the irrational idea of pouncing him, dragging him back to bed, and cuddling. I sighed out loud and began to put my clothes away when I felt a hand touch my shoulder. I jumped slightly, since I was lost in thought of what I really wanted to do to him.

"I was curious on what you planned on doing to your sister," he said, "And I am warning you against it."

"It isn't too bad," I told him, "I am just trying to get her to tell Shikamaru she likes him that is all."

"Meddling in other people business can only lead to trouble," he said.

"So I have been told," I sighed, "You have to understand..."

"Stop right there," he said holding his hand in front of my face, "Is this really necessary?"

"I guess," I shrugged putting the last of the clothes away, "Either that or they are going to be sixty."

Neji sighed, "I am not helping you, and I do not want to know."

"Good," I said before hugging him, "It is better that you don't take one of Yuki's punishments, you would never be the same after."

"Is it that important to you?" he asked as he unhinged my arms from around his neck.

I looked at him in the eyes, "Yep, it may seems stupid now, but in a week she can laugh about it. Now if I could only get a hold of Ino.."

"No," he said, "If you are going to do whatever it is, do it by yourself. That way you don't run the risk of ruining friendships."

"Fine," I pouted,"Get the first aid kit ready...I am going to need it after this."

I darted into the living room and tackled both of the. Thankfully Shikamaru wasn't facing the hallway or I wouldn't have caught him so easily...

**Yuki's POV**

"So, she tried to guilt you into being friends with me," I asked Shikamaru.

"Pretty much," he sighed, "I don't see why she is so pushy."

"It is her way of saying she likes you as a friend," I rolled my eyes.

I was about to say something else but Shikamaru crashed into me. Something had knocked him over and I looked around his shoulder to see a happy looking Kori. If she had a tail it would be wagging. I will kill her, when she looks like that she is fixing to do something incredibly stupid.

"Yuki and Shikamaru like one another!" she beamed.

I was pinned underneath him so I couldn't grab my sister and beat her within an inch of her life, the only thing I had was to lay there. Shikamaru tried to get up but Kori planted her but in the middle of his back and pinned his legs down so he would have a harder time getting up.

"Well duh," I said, "Of course we do. We are friends."

An ominous look appeared in her eyes before she grabbed Shikamaru's head, turned it, and crashed his face into mine, "And how much do you like one another?"

"Hmhat ff ie!" I tried to say but my lips were pressed against Shikamaru's.

"What?" she said removing Shikamaru's face from mine.

"You should die!" I told her.

"Gotta catch me!" she said hopping off Shikamaru and darting out the door.

Shikamaru caught her in his Kagemane no Jutsu and caused her to fall to the ground. Then she mimicked him getting up and walking towards one another. I got up and marched over to Yuki and wanted to kill her but at first I wanted to know why she wanted this.

"What kind of hair-brained, half-baked idea was that?" I asked calmly.

"Well, I figured if I took you both by surprise, Yuki would kiss Shikamaru," she said, "I didn't hurt you did I?"

I blushed heavily, "Tha-Why?"

"Yuki likes Shikamaru, and vice versa," she said, "I can see it."

"What does she mean?" asked Shikamaru.

I sighed, "She sees what others see when they look at things or people. Not just eyesight alone, how they feel, what they think, she even can paint it if she wants."

"So that is why she cornered me into talking with her," said Shikamaru, "What a drag."

"Fix this!" I pointed at Kori, "And don't ever try anything like this again!"

Kori just looked at us, "Fix what, nothing is broken."

"You don't understand anything do you?" I said tears stinging my eyes, "Everything works for you, you don't think, you just do! I can't do stuff like that...I-I don't know.."

"Ugh! You slow moving, indecisive, idiot!" yelled Kori, "If I hadn't of did anything then you two would have just 'talked' until one of you died or until you were ancient! Shikamaru doesn't like to put forth effort into anything but when he sees you he wants to try, and Yuki can't decide what she wants in life but when she sees Shikamaru she knows! I know you two are mature enough to see that! I may be the idiot, but at least I can try something! If it fails, I try again, and again, until I succeed!"

Shikamaru broke the jutsu and looked at me. I could have killed her, but it hurt she didn't trust me enough to work at it my own way. Yeah she was right I had a hard time deciding when or how to do things, but I could do it if given the time. I looked back at him and just awkwardly smiled.

"She is half right," I told him, "I do like you. Kinda more than friends."

Shikamaru said slowly, "I already knew you liked me. I liked the way it was. Talking, you never seemed to get upset or hate anything I said. You didn't always see it how I did, but you didn't think less of me. When chicks like guys they get so frustrating. Everything I say and do could make you mad, and then you never tell me why. I would have to sit and think of what I said or did to make you upset and it could be the tiniest of things."

"Well I tried to see if I really liked you or not," I told him, "After talking I found out I did, but I liked how you didn't think I was too smart, and you just sat and listened. It was nice, but I guess that we can't be friends anymore now..."

"Who said?" replied Shikamaru, "I didn't say I wanted to stop being friends but if that is how you really feel, until you are sure, I think we should take things slowly."

"I am sure I like you a lot," I said, "There is no one cooler or more mature that I know. I know you can be immature at times, but so can I. So um, if it isn't too troublesome, can um I start over?"

"Why? I like it just the way it is," smirked Shikamaru.

"Okay," I smiled before turning to Yuki, "Three seconds before I come after you."

" 'kay," she said before darting away.

"Um that forced kiss thing, can we forget that?" I asked him.

"I think you busted my lip," he said before checking to see if there was blood.

I moved his hand and looked at it, it wasn't bleeding but I wasn't going to pass up this chance. So I quickly pecked him on the corner of his mouth and smiled.

"Does it feel better?" I asked him.

"Yeah," he smiled.

"I need to get ready for my mission, it is painting," I said walking to my room, "After that how 'bout breakfast?"

He smiled and I went back to see what Kori was up to, there her and Neji were talking about what she did. Neji didn't seem to like the idea and was trying to tell her how bad of an idea it was. I stepped into the room to save her from being read the riot act.

"Neji, don't take it too hard on her," I said, "I need to tell her off too."

"So does this mean you and Shika?" asked Kori.

"I don't know," I smiled, "Maybe."

"Yes!" she said bouncing on her bed.

"So you?" I asked.

"Yep!" she replied.

"Anything I should worry about?" I asked.

"Not to my knowledge," she replied, "Um I was meaning to tell you something."

She looked up to her right and then rubbed her nose and pouted her lips. This was sister code for 'I got kissed'. I snickered and gave her a thumbs up while Neji stood there confused. Kori just laughed harder before reminding me what our mission was and giving me a look that told me Tanzo wasn't going to come out of the mission, unscathed. I got dressed and made pancakes for everyone before we went to the Academy. It was the weekend so we had enough time to paint all the rooms and have them dry before school started again. Kori and I grabbed the pain cans and brushes before Hayama finished.

"Why are you to so eager to paint" asked Hayama.

"We love it!" we said,"No problem!"

Tanzo looked rather happy that he wouldn't have to pain and instead look for some broken desks, or other objects to fix with chakra. After that, Kori and I split up thinking it would be better to take multiple rooms. Then I told Kori that she had to take Shikamaru to watch over her, I knew how distracted she could get with boys. I opened up the window and began painting.

"So Neji, you and Kori?" I asked.

"What does that have to do with the mission?" asked Neji.

"Nothing," I replied, "I talk, it helps with the process. I work faster that way."

"I told her that I liked her," he said blushing, "And that is all you are going to know."

"Alright," I said finishing my first sweep with the roller, "So was the Hyuga thing you had yesterday important? Just say yes or no."

"Both," he said.

"_Why does it feel like night today?_

_Something in here's not right today._

_Why am I so uptight today?_

_Paranoia's all I got left_

_I don't know what stressed me first_

_Or how the pressure was fed_

_But I know just what it feels like_

_To have a voice in the back of my head," _I began singing.

When I finished the song I was halfway done with one wall and just had to even out the paint. Neji asked me about the song.

"Seemed like a good one to sing," I told him," Something wrong?"

"I was curious about you having a special ability like Kori," he replied.

"I can tell sorta tell what others are thinking," I replied, "It isn't like a voice. Like if someone has something bugging them. Usually a song will play in my head and I can sing it and when I mold my chakra into it, I can turn it into genjutsu. Sometimes it makes them feel better, other times it is ment to trap them. If that is what you are talking about."

"So you do," he said calmly, "How far can you use it?"

"They have to hear me and I have to be around them long enough to pick up on what to sing," I told him, "It depends on what I want to do to them, as well. Kori was having a bad day and I made her feel better by singing. I know she paints, we were the first people we tried it on. I can bring out emotions and illusions with my songs. It is really weird."

"What do you call it?" he asked.

"I am not sure, a Heartsong?" I told him, "That is the way I think of it. It is something that responds to their heart. It doesn't always work because I share the emotions too like Kori, and I have to over power their will to keep them there."

"Were you using it on me?" he asked.

"No, not really. If I had, that would have been what you were, not what you are," I replied as I started on a new wall, "We can't quite control it, our abilities. We have more control over what we used to. Kori kept seeing bad things people did or what they would do, and I kept hearing people. We worked hard on it in secret. When we learned to focus it got better, but it isn't perfect."

"Can you sing a song without picking it up from people and it work?" he asked.

"Yeah," I told him, "And that is harder. Sometimes when I sing or make a noise my wind element molds with it and I can literally turn my voice into a weapon. Nothing major, I can knock you off your feet and cause your ears to bleed if I scream at you, if I am lucky I can cut you a couple of times. I have been working on it. The trick is getting enough chakra to the air passing through my vocal cords and then amplifying the sound without damaging them because I have to sharpen the wind to cut. I can't do it often and if I do it wrong I can lose my voice for a while. So I have been working on making a whisper louder or throwing my voice. It has helped me a great deal with focusing."

"I see," he said.

After that we talked until I finished the room. It took me a bit longer than I would have liked but it was better than nothing. At this pace, we would be lucky to get half the rooms done today. After cleaning up I went to Kori and saw her causing a mess. She was still painting but I noticed the window was closed and she was shut in while painting. Worried about I started to go into the room.

"Kori!" I said, "You can't do that!"

"Hmm?" she said turning towards me, "I wouldn't step in here, the window is broken and I think I have stood in here too long."

"Where is Shikamaru?" I asked her.

"I told him to find Tanzo to fix the window," she said returning to her painting, "He isn't back yet."

"Oh god Kori, get out of there before you pass out," I said grabbing her, "I will finish."

"Good, I think there is only half a wall that needs smoothed," she said before falling on the floor, "Tell the world to stop moving...I feel funny."

I sighed and finished the room for her before moving her into another room and opened the windows to get some air to her. Two minutes later Shikamaru came back with Tanzo looking beat up.

"I found him under a pile of books, it took me forever to dig him out," said Shikamaru.

"Good, he can pick up Kori's share, since she isn't up for anymore painting right now," I said.

"That storage room was out to kill me," said Tanzo, "I swear."

"Why were you in there?" I asked him.

"I needed something to get a broken kunai shard out of a chalkboard," he said.

Tanzo and I painted another room while Kori took a rest, when we were halfway finished Kori found us and complained about her rather large headache before finding another brush and helping us. With the three of us it took less time to paint the rooms and by noon we had four of them done. Hayama came back and gave us bento boxes before checking on our progress. After making sure we didn't need anything else he left and we began to paint. A few hours left we painted another few rooms. After a short break we went and began fixing some of the problems like broken chairs or blackboards, fixing them with chakra. When sensei came back it was five in the afternoon. We decided to get some more training in to help improve ourselves so we could do some higher ranked missions...

**Three months later...**

**Kori's POV**

Tsunade had finally thought we were capable enough to begin to do higher ranked missions. She still had us do our check-ups but they were farther in between. Neji and I started becoming closer and he even started to train me, which I interpreted as a date. Shikamaru and Yuki also had a few of their own, though they wouldn't say anything about it. Shikamaru even accepted a teaching position for the Academy while Neji was in the process of being ranked Jonin. I had began working hard on my studies as a med-nin and was able to provide assistance if we were injured, though I still hadn't been able to master the Shosen Jutsu yet. Things were running smoothly and we were working harder than ever to prepare ourselves, and to prove ourselves that we could participate in the Chunin Exams that would be held later this year. It would be cutting it close if we were able to since we hadn't been genin that long. Though we would have been fine to take the exams that were early next year.

Our team was on our way back from an escort mission. Nothing major, just to escort a supply cart to the Land of Rivers where it was passed off to another team from a another village. We were almost at the border when we were attacked by a group of would be bandits. They seemed to be simple enough to defeat and didn't look like they were armed with anything other than simple weapons. Tanzo was ready to defend himself but our sensei knew something was wrong. If they had been simple bandits they would have tried to capture us when we had the supply cart, something was off.

"We have nothing important to give to you," said Hayama, "We are just simple travelers on our way back."

"You are shinobi from Konohagakure," said one of them, "We were told that if we captured you then a good information would be in it for us."

"There is your problem," I said, "You have to capture us."

The enemy proved to be a shinobi by preforming hand seals, "Doton: Dosenki!"

He slammed his palm down on the ground and and the ground rose underneath him before the dirt began to rush towards us. Sensei stepped in front of us and preformed a powerful wind wave to disrupt the path of the earth wave. Both Yuki and I began molding our chakra, there was only one technique we practiced together when we had the time but sensei gave us enough clearing. With both of the water and wind palms we threw them together and they combined to create a tornado of water that scattered the shinobi as the technique hit.

"Tanzo, shake and bake!" I yelled.

It was a wind enhanced fireball that Yuki and he worked on. I would gather the targets up and knock them up with water while they 'baked' them. It was a silly name but it worked. Sensei separated two of them and began fighting them while he left the others for us to work on. Using shadow clones Tanzo managed to keep one of them occupied and backed him up to another. Yuki kept hers distracted with her genjutsu, however I was having a more difficult time with mine. This bugger was fast and he had me on the defensive. He used long range attacks and had lots of explosives. I was playing cat and mouse with him but I kept jumping close to Yuki. Yuki saw my distress but she couldn't break her concentration with trapping her opponents in her genjutsu. Tanzo rushed to my side to help me since he was a better long range fighter than I was.

"Tanzo, he is covered in tags!" I told him, "One shot is all you need."

"Got it," he smirked.

Tanzo then started to preform a few weak fire jutsus to move him towards an area, that I was making slick with mixing water with the earth. It wasn't much but if we did this right we could get the other two with him. As Tanzo brought him closer I began charging him from behind to try and slide into his legs. The ninja saw me and jumped into the air.

"You missed," he laughed.

"I wasn't aiming for you," I replied as Tanzo hopped on my feet and I helped him get more air.

Tanzo then kicked him down to the slippery earth as I rushed again. The ninja had a hard time standing up considering I made the earth similar to a shallow mud pond, and I hopped on his back and rode him like a surf board until I had to hop off to distance myself. Yuki broke her jutsu and prepared her hand seals. I quickly preformed mine and caused some of the water in a nearby stream to divert and slam down next to them before gushing up a final time to knock them airborn.

"Katon: Endan," said Tanzo as he shot the fire ball into the air.

Yuki then created a current of wind blades around them and when the fire hit the wind, it exploded. As they fell to the ground we smiled but waited for a few seconds before turning around to make sure they were dead, or at least unconscious. Suddenly one of them got up and aimed kunai at Yuki. I jumped and tackled her to get her out of the way of the kunai. One got me in the shoulder and started to bleed when we hit the ground. Yuki got up and was pissed. I think I blinked and saw she was already on the attacker. I watched as she swept his legs out from under him, back flipped while kicking him, spun around on her hands to gain momentum and kick him in the face, sending him to the stream. Then she pulled out her kunai and began going towards the stream.

"Yuki, I am okay," I said hugging her and received a glare, "Alright kill him..."

The shinobi rose up from the water and began to try and attack her. One of Yuki's main goals was to be able to break people with her punches, and she achieved that goal, no thanks to Lee and Gai. They put her through hell and took her on a weekly mountain training session, when she came back she looked wild and accidentally broke the door while trying to enter. As Yuki saw him she tossed the kunai she held in hand at him, I dont think the guy saw it leave her hands. The kunai had almost gon through him! Blood sprayed everywhere and she didn't stop hitting him until what appeared to be goo was on her hands. _Never ever ever piss Yuki off._ I thought to myself as Tanzo and I checked where the other two went off to. Sensei had already killed one and captured the other for questioning. The others seemed to have disappeared as I helped Yuki clean herself up. Yuki also helped me clean and dress my wound as she bitched at me for being stupid.

Sensei told us if they had of been stronger ninja we wouldn't have been so lucky in defeating them but he was impressed that we managed to work together and create stronger jutsus. We headed back to Konoha and gave our report to Tsunade who eyed both Yuki and I over the actual report. The surviving ninja was taken to be interrogated and thankfully he wasn't looking for either me or Yuki in particular, he was just told that capturing other ninja, their village would come after them, and there was a possibility to get information out of them. Tsunade told us to get some rest before we were sent on the next mission.

* * *

Kagemane no Jutsu- Shadow Imitation Technique- This is the Nara Clan jutsu. This allows Shikamaru to create a shadow and attach it with his chakra and cause the person to mimic what he is doing.

Kanton: Endan- Fire Release: Flame Bullet- the user gathers oil in their mouth which is created by chakra, spitting it out, and ignites it. This technique simply shoots a flame bullet at the enemy. It has the power to cause the enemy to burn up completely if they are taken unaware.

Collaboration Jutsu- used by Yuki, Kori, and Tanzo. A wind enhanced water wave was used by Kori and Yuki, while a wind enhanced Flame Bullet was used by Tanzo and Yuki. Collaboration jutsu is stronger than the regular jutsu parts that make it up but takes a bit of teamwork and syncing up timing. Those who spend more time together or have 'like minded' natures have an easier time with collaboration jutsu.

* * *

I thought I should give you a "time line" for the story since there is no way you know when it is. This is a rough estimate. Also note that the Chunin Exams are held twice a year...Which I am going to use Spring and Fall as the times they are done.

Yuki and Kori arrive in Konoha - 6 mo after Naruto leaves.

Rehab/ private instructors- about three months

Time spent in the academy-about four months

Time spent as Genin- four months

Time until Naruto's Return (which I SHOULD add to the chappies) - 1 year 6 mo. (according to the story)

* * *

**River: **Lol, I told you guys I had a plan. It worked hehehe. Expect some time skips in the future chappies. I need to quickly be able to develop their abilities and it not be three chapters later, yeah I am going to cheat like that.

Well now Yuki has her special ability, it is a bit artsy even though she is more strategy...it still takes a bit of head work to use. I know the name of it is really cheesy but I am like that, deal with it. I am going to guess it is about June or July in the story...**  
**


	12. Chapter 12: Threatening Parties

During our down time I went to the hospital to help out and worked along side Sakura, and Ino, though Sakura was the more experienced and better med-nin. Ino and I were tasked with taking care of the smaller injuries of people coming in. Sakura was working with Shizune in surgery, so Ino and I had our hands full. After my shift was over I walked home and bumped into Neji.

"Neji!" I said waving my hand over my head at him.

"Kori," he smiled, "Why are you at the hospital?"

"I am working on medical jutsu," I told him, "Don't worry I am getting loads better at it."

"Where is Yuki?" he asked.

"Probably stalking Shikamaru at the Academy, or at home cooking," I said, "Oh crap, he is here."

"Kori," said Choji, "Stop hiding."

I moved so I could be seen, "I am killing Tsunade."

"You know it is for your own good," said Neji.

"Not really, I think she is punishing our guards," I told him, "Anyway. Wanna join me for food?"

"Where?" said Choji.

"You are auto-invited oh guard of mine," I rolled my eyes.

"Actually I was looking for you," said Neji, "Uncle wanted to talk to you."

"Really?" I said suprised,"Nothing bad I hope."

"Yes he believes you are corrupting his nephew and wants to kill you," said Neji.

"Ha-ha," I mocked, "Pranks aren't your thing."

I decided to follow Neji and went to the Hyuga Compound. We went to one of the interior rooms and found Hiashi watching a spar between Hinata and another Hyuga member. As we entered Hiashi rose up to greet us and then looked at me, more like through me. Then he told Choji to remain with Neji while he dragged me outside to one of the gardens.

"I would like to talk to you," said Hiashi.

"I didn't do it!" I said on reflex, "I mean, um...really?"

"I am not accusing you of anything," he said, "I was just going to invite you and your sister to Neji's birthday."

"Huh?" I asked.

"You were busy last year and both Hinata and Neji seem fond of you both," he said, "Your relationship with my nephew has even had an effect on him. He has began to open up more and start to have a better outlook on life."

"My...relationship?" I said out loud while my brain was spazzing out, "As..."

Hiashi laughed, "I have been informed about you two becoming closer."

"Nothing gets by you," I said paling.

"No," he said and began to look serious, "Usually clans do not associate outside of one another*. Neji has been given more freedom to marry since he has received the Curse Seal. I have heard of your progress as a shinobi and if it is accepted then I will see no problem with your affections toward my nephew."

"Eh?" I said, "M-m-WHAT? I like him and that would be great...and that look you are giving me says I should either stop liking him or become a bi- strong ninja or I should give up."

"I am saying that if you do anything to hurt my nephew I would suggest that you disappear," said Hiashi.

"I will make sure not to," I said warily,"Not that I wasn't planning on to anyway. God forbid someone wants to date your daughter."

"You must understand that our clans are prized for our bloodline," he said, "We have to be cautious to whom we let in. Even if you prove to be a capable person there is a chance that you would only see Neji as a way to obtain the Byakugan."

"I understand," I said, "I would kill myself before betraying Konoha, you guys have been kind enough to let me and Yuki live here and become shinobi. Besides Yuki and I have our own secrets we have to keep. It is a fair trade. I run the risk of being...unusual and am a danger if someone captured me or Yuki. Lord knows that we would go to the ends of the earth for one another."

"I trust that you will not endanger my family?" he said while smiling.

"Scouts Honor! I mean y-yes sir," I said, "Can I leave before this gets weird?"

He nodded his head and I was back in the room sitting down in mere seconds. Neji looked at me and sighed.

"What happened?" he asked.

"Oh the usual, your uncle loves you and threatened me with lots of pain if I tried to hurt you," I squeaked, "I think I was invited to a party but the death threats made that seem not so important."

"Is that all?" asked Neji.

"Oh my god you can't be serious?" I said sighing.

"He didn't tell you to leave and never be seen on the grounds again?" continued Neji.

"No, he said I was a good influence on you," I said, "Boy does he not know my scare factor."

"I am glad he approves," said Neji scooting closer to me.

"That was approval?" I gasped, "God, I thought he was trying to kill me with a look."

"Do you want to spar?" he asked getting up, "Hinata seems to be finished."

"In front of your family?" I said nervously, "You kick my...you beat me up a lot."

"You are afraid that you will look like a fool," he said, "Do not worry, Hinata will tell them otherwise."

"Good to know," I said getting up and following him, "Are you gonna try and Gentle...No that even sounded wrong in my head."

"What?" he said.

"Say your fighting style in your head and add me to death to the end," I whispered in his ear.

He blushed crimson before saying, "That is so wrong."

"I know," I said taking my position.

We stood there for a moment before he crouched down slightly, _oh shite, must stop! _I thought. I didn't exactly rush him because he lashed out when I was within arms reach and I had to duck under his attack. He followed it up with a kick and I jumped up and grabbed his leg, hand standing on it and tried to kick down with my foot. He blocked it with his right hand and attempted to hit my chakra point in my leg. With my opposite leg I managed to bat his away but had to push off his leg to keep balance. As I landed he was already within striking distance and I had to bend back to keep from being struck in the chest with one of his hands. He then knocked my legs out from under me with a leg sweep followed up by a kick that landed on the side of my face. I turned so I would land on all fours and got up as quickly as I could before being attacked again. He kept the offense as I bobbed and tried to weave against them. One strike was aimed at my shoulder and I blocked it with my left hand, stepped into him, dodged the second blow, and hooked my arms around him. This enabled me to toss him over my head, but he landed on his feet. He turned around to find me jumping up and aiming a knee to hit him in the chin. He tried to counter with both hands, aimed at my abdomen but I was ready for that and caught him at his writs, the blows still landed and my air left me but I had a hold of him. This was short lived as he grabbed me and tossed me over his head and behind him. Before I landed I was struck for times in the back with his hands. I rolled, got up and turned to face him. I then rushed up to him and ducked under his thrust to my face, hit the ground and used my hand to slide into his back leg. Then I used my left leg to bounce me up so I could aim my right leg to his chest to knock him over. He recovered quickly however and caught me, _shit, _I thought as he pulled me close and then struck me with his elbow in the chest, sending me to the floor again.

I rolled up quickly to avoid another strike and flipped up so I would land on his shoulders. Smiling down at him I curled my feet under his arms and threw my weight so he would fall back with me. As we fell, I uncurled my legs and kicked off his shoulder. He caught himself with his hands and pushed up, then aimed a kick in my direction. I caught his foot and pulled myself forward so I could flip and land on the floor. Well I landed alright, just in a different way. Neji had landed, caught me by the foot and slammed me face first into the nice smelling, now pretty sure bloody, polished wooden floor.

"I love...floor," I said as I picked myself up and felt blood running down my face," Wood polish is so lovely to make out with."

"K-kori!" said Hinata jumping up, "Are you okay."

"Ah," I said pinching my nose, "Gotta love the taps! So Neji am I getting better?"

"You are improving, though I thought you would have caught yourself before you hit the floor," he said walking towards me.

"No," I said backing away from him, "No inspecting the face. Just a busted nose."

"We need to have you looked at," said Neji.

I pulled some herbs out of my pouch, "Nah, got Yarrow."

I pulled a small amount out, wrapped it in some cloth and placed it in my nose. Then I asked where the bathroom was so I could clean myself up. When I looked in the mirror it looked like someone died on my face, or I tried to eat someone. Sighing I cleaned my face and neck as best I could and returned to the other room so I could clean and disinfect where I bled on the floor. Hiashi looked at me funny for a moment as I grabbed a cloth I kept with me and began cleaning.

"I bled on your floor," I said looking up at him, "It is safer for me to clean it up anyway. Your family might be allergic to me."

Hinata giggled, "I doubt that."

After cleaning up the blood and making sure I killed all the germs, I washed my hands and checked to see if the Yarrow worked. I threw the bloody cloths away and met back up with Neji who was enjoying some tea with his uncle. Hinata and Hanabi captured me and I was forced into the 'test subject' for Hanabi's dress up games. When Neji finally found me I was in one of Hinata's kimonos and was in the middle of my face being painted. When Hinata was finished she practically threw me into Neji.

"Your cousins are evil," I pouted, "How do you move in these things?"

It was a black kimono with a few large pale pink and white flowers connected light purple branches and a darker purple ribbon. The background on the left shoulder was the sun rising in the mountains and was a pale yellow, the obi matched the sun but it also had a dark pink design on it. Though I didn't get a good look at it before the two stopped my breathing with the infernal thing. I was only in the outer two layers of the kimono but it still was hard to walk in. The fabric was surprisingly thick but could breathe, but the narrow space the skirt portion gave me, cut my step and I was tripping over it. The two sisters also decided to paint my face with matching make-up and stick god knows what in my hair. Neji just looked down and me and blushed.

"Neji?" I asked blinking, "Are you okay?"

Neji blushed and then looked at his cousins,"Uncle is going to be upset if he catches her in this."

Neji began to walk away before he froze on the spot, coming towards us was Hiashi. I flipped out, and more or less hopped back in the room. I was in the middle of trying to figure out how to untie the kimono when Hiashi stepped through the door.

"What is going on?" he asked.

"They did it," I said pointing to Hinata and Hanabi, "I was kidnapped."

"Doesn't she look pretty daddy?" said Hanabi.

"Kori?" said Hiashi.

I bit back the sarcastic response and just looked at him utterly defeated, "Yes."

_Please don't let compliments exit that man's mouth. I would hate to be trapped in this again. _I silently hoped as I kept on waiting for him to say something. Hiashi looked at Neji and muttered something and Neji nodded. Then Hiashi walked away and left us to ourselves.

"So what was that about?" I asked after managing to find where the obi untied.

"He told me that you have to dress up like that when you attend my birthday," said Neji.

"Please be joking!" I begged, "That is three days away, how the hell am I going to...Oh no. I am being held captive aren't I?"

"You will be staying with Hinata for the time being," he said, "Hiashi is going to inform the Hokage of your whereabouts and to have your guard dropped for the next two days so you don't have to worry about them while you learn how to walk in that."

"Kill me," I sighed, "Please, I will be mocked for all eternity if Yuki sees me in this."

"Yuki is going to be joining you," said Neji, "I am going to retrieve her now."

I wobbled over to him and hugged him, "Thanks Neji! You are the best!"

After lots of help from Hanabi and Hinata I wriggled my way out of the kimono, which I was sure was a decide to keep women from capturing men and beating them to death when pissed off. Yuki arrived some time later looking upset for some reason.

"He interrupted something," I said cautiosly.

"No," she blushed, "I think he is trying to chase me away or play mind games...So we played...Truth or Dare."

"Did you lose?" I asked.

"Psht, no!" she said, "I had his shirt off and then Neji kidnapped me."

"Aww someone needs a cuddle," I said cutely before being hit over the head, "Now someone needs an ice pack."

"Why am I here and why did I have to bring clothes?" she asked sitting a large bag on the ground.

"Well Hiashi caught me being dressed up as a girl and for Neji's birthday we are going to be in kimonos," I sighed.

"Oh my god!" she squealed and began breaking my spine with a hug.

"Can't...breathe," I struggled out before being dropped to the floor.

"So until then we get to be trained by the Terrible Two," I said.

**Day One**

Yuki got to team up with Hinata as her teacher while I got Hanabi. Both of us looked at one another and stood there. After a minute she dragged me back to another room and then had me walk around. Hanabi told me my steps were too big, I slouched, and that I shuffled when I walked. So she tied a broomstick to my back at my shoulders and knees and had me parade, so to speak, around in a room. If she caught me shuffling my feet she poked me with a rather sharp stick. All the while I was thinking of evil things to do to her. I know she was only helping but Neji walked by the room while on his way to see Hiashi and practically rolled on the floor laughing. When she was sure I had proper form of walking, she stuck me in a rather tight dress that limited my movement, though I managed to get her to let me at least wear a robe over it, in case any guys walked by.

By the time I was finished with training, I was frustrated so I decided to work on my Impression Jutsu. I darted to the gardens with stuff in hand, and began to paint. I painted some of the flowers and other scenery that I would use to make a wall version that I would hang in my room later. Hiashi caught me laying one down so it could dry and then insisted that I do the decorations for Neji's birthday.

When dinner came Yuki and I were too nervous to eat with anyone and ate in our rooms. There Yuki told me she was figuring out a way to use sound to disrupt the chakra flow of constant use jutsus, like the Byakugan. The most she was able to do was interrupt the concentration and she accidentally made Hinata pass out when her voice mimicked Naruto's voice. That and she ended up being recruited for the entertainment since she complained about the party being too boring. The celebration wasn't going to be big either, but both Yuki and I knew you only turned sixteen once and for some reason we remembered big parties with ours...

**Day Two**

We convinced Hinata to invite both her and Neji's friends, along with having them bring one extra guest. We also had to convince Hiashi that this was going to be a good idea, and it would help take some of the pressure off house relations, though we had no idea if it really would, if he agreed. Though Neji would be a bit more 'special' because he was Hiashi's nephew, we told Hiashi that sixteen was an important number for where we used to live, and described our birthday parties to him. After hours of convincing, and lying, we got to be able to hold the party. Of course all the Hyuga Clan would be invited, but for them it was a 'come if you want to' kind of thing. The only thing was we had to keep our guest list under thirty people, thankfully that wouldn't be a problem, we didn't know that many people. Instantly all the Rookie Eleven members were invited and a member of thier family would have an invitation, to make the guest list fill up faster. We thought of Tsunade at first but then we knew that the punch bowel would have to be constantly checked on...or worse she got pissed off at someone. Weighing the pros and cons, we decided to ask Tsunade anyway. We also invited Gai, Kakashi, Asuma, Kurenai, and some other jonin that we hoped Neji would associate with after he got his request for advancement approved.

After we sent the invitations we started our plans. However it was to much of our suprise, how many Hyuga family members wanted to come. Unfortunately there was one member of the main family branch that we knew would give us trouble. Her name was Haruko. When she heard of the party we were planning she practically begged Hiashi to attend. At first we were thankfull that a head family member was going to attend that was nice, but boy we were wrong. When Hinata and Hanabi heard the news they pulled us aside.

"She is horrible!" said Hinata, "She is only coming to torment Neji because he is a branch member."

"That and she teases me and Hinata constantly," said Hanabi, "She acts like she is superior to everyone even though Hinata is going to lead the family when she is older. Once I caught her bulling Hinata and calling her all sorts of names, and when I tried to help she got her friends to torture me too."

"Oh she can't be that bad," I said looking at Haruko talking with Hiashi, "She is sweet."

"That is only because someone is around," said Hanabi, "Don't let her know anything about you."

"We can just uninvite her," said Yuki.

"No!" said Hinata, "That would look bad."

After Hiashi left Haruko came all the way over to us with a cute smile on her face, "This is going to be the best party ever!"

Hinata and Hanabi tensed up. Yuki had to be called away with Hinata to practice more and that left, Hanabi was called away by her father and looked at me with sympathy. When they did Haruko put on a smiling face and then acted like she was going to hug me. When she did she hit some of my chakra points instead and caused me to fall on the floor. While still gasping for air, since she knocked it out, she began pulling on it and roughly brought me up to where she could 'chat'.

"I don't understand why Lord Hiashi wants you around," she said, "You are pathetic. Even with you being friends with Lady Hinata, you should know your place. You are not welcome here and should leave this place. Neji will always have to serve me and everyone else because of his status, and you are trying to make him feel important."

"Why are you so cruel?" I asked her.

"There are certain places people are born into. I am part of the main house of one of Konoha's noble clans. You are a nobody, you don't even have a family," she hissed as she threw me to the ground, "Why should I show respect to a nothing? It is beneath me."

"Fine," I said getting up, "If that is how narrow your mind is, then I can't try and talk you into reason."

"Ha you talk?" she laughed, "I am surprised you even know how to. I heard about how they found you in the middle of nowhere looking like urchins. You should be glad the Hokage thinks that you might be of use, otherwise I am sure you would have been long dead by now."

_Just wait bitch, there is a dark and scary corner somewhere around here and I will make you eat those words. _I thought to myself while biting back a whole lot of colorful phrases and adjectives to call her. Not letting my anger get the best of me, I ignored her and walked off. When I found Hanabi I put more focus into my practice in part of showing that bitch that I was worth something...

**Day Three**

While finishing up the decorations for the party, which was held outside, I fell off the ladder I was using because of a headache that hit me. I saw flashes of someone coming up behind Hiashi and then red running down his face. The members of the party were gathered around after he fell, and they looked at him like he was dead. Then the blame of who did it was placed on Neji. Hinata and Hanabi were upset and told Yuki and I that they wouldn't forgive us.

After the headache passed, I immediately rushed to where I thought Hiashi was and found him working on some papers. I knocked on the door and he motioned for me to come in.

"Hiashi," I said, "I think this is a bad idea."

"What are you talking about?" he asked.

"Well, I think...that this party is a really bad idea," I said, "It could be my imagination but I...feel like something horrible might happen."

"It might be because of the branch and main house members attending," he said closing his eyes, "Latley there have been some incidents where some of the branch members have spoken out against the main branch. This has been dealt with and those who have become so outspoken will not be joining us tomorrow evening."

"Yeah," I lied, "It might be it. Oh the decorations are done."

"Splendid, I will look at them when I finish this," he said, "Dismissed."

I walked around, trying to find Yuki. She was in one of the side rooms that we were given to stay, finishing up the music selection. She had even made a few tapes that she had some of the music that she and I remembered from our lives before Konoha, though she was surprised to find similar music already around. Thankfully she managed to rig up a radio and had the help of Kakashi's help to record the music*. When she was finished I told her everything and she became as worried as I was. Since we couldn't call of the party we would just have to enlist the help of our friends to figure out who would do such a thing. We went through the guest list and tried to think of anyone who could be capable of such a thing. With Yuki's jutsu already programed into the music as an underbelly, it would be difficult for anyone to try gentjutsu or any other jutsu that required focus and a steady chakra stream, but that also limited us.

With Haurko also giving us trouble, we would have to keep her out of the loop. Any time she suspected us of anything, which was at least ten times a day, she would corner us and torment us. She knew we couldn't risk open conflict with her since she was a main family member and that would only get us into trouble. However we did manage to stage an accident that lead her into drinking ink filled tea that stained her teeth. Aside from being on thin ice, or so the Hyuga Elder kept reminding us, we were able to pretty much do what was necessary.

"So who is in on this?" I asked Yuki.

"Hinata and Hanabi for sure," she said, "I can't find Neji anywhere and the others aren't arriving until tomorrow. I guess we can arm ourselves with stuff hidden in the kimono, but remember the music disrupts steady chakra flow for jutsus so we can't use that. I guess we can have everyone oversee the games and switch out...though we need to keep under the radar, the Hyugas don't really have a good sense of humor."

"This really isn't funny anyway," I told her.

"But what if it isn't true?" she told me, "We would look like a bunch of idiots."

"Yeah but if something does happen, what then?" I asked her.

"I don't know, we have to be really careful," she said getting up, "Let's find Hinata and Hanabi and tell them."

We went to leave and had the unfortunate surprise of Haruko standing in the doorway.

"Tell them what?" she asked.

"That you look," I started to say hideous but her father was passing by, "pretty."

"Aww isn't that sweet, the urchin is finally learning her place," she smiled.

I bit my lip to keep myself from doing anything stupid. I just tried to leave but she kept blocking the door. Lucky for her, there were people still in the hallway and I couldn't force her out of my way. However, I looked at Yuki. She nodded slightly and then closed her eyes.

"Time for you to move," I said, "I don't want this to end badly."

"You have already ruined my good mood by just being here," she scoffed, "You honestly can't do anything to me. Not unless you want the Elder to know what you have been plotting against my family. I would have you thrown in jail before you could even blink."

"As if," I said slowly getting closer to her, "Ugh, why do you have to be you and not someone else."

"What do you mean?" she said.

"Yuki," I said, giving her the signal to sing.

"_Goodnight, sleep tight_

_No more tears_

_In the morning I'll be here_

_And when we say goodnight,_

_Dry your eyes_

_Because we said goodnight,_

_And not goodbye_

_We said goodnight_

_And not goodbye" _she sang as I caught Haruko when she feel uncouncious.

"Really?" I asked Yuki laying Haruko down.

"She has issues," said Yuki, "Come on we have work to do."

After making sure, annoying on my part since I would have just dropped her, she was comfortable we hunted down Hinata and Hanabi. After getting them to both promise they wouldn't tell anyone else about what we could do, we told them what happened.

"Are you sure you saw this," said Hanabi, "Did you tell father."

"No, not exactly" I said rubbing the back of my neck, "I don't want this 'I can practically read minds' thing getting out. Controlling it is bad enough, what if someone finds out. I mean it isn't a hundred percent accurate but who ever thought this really doesn't like your father."

"Then we will help you," said Hinata.

"When we can find Neji and Shikamaru we can recruit them for help, hopefully. The others we have to be vauge with how we got the information. I can forge notes and stuff now," I told them, "Oh and your evil cousin is sleeping in our room. Could you go get someone to remove her?"

"Why?" asked Hanabi.

"Yuki can make people think things and affect people with song...and tear stuff up when she screams," I said, "She put her to sleep. She will wake up fine of course, but the bitch wouldn't move."

"I would have locked her in a closet," pouted Hanabi.

"Hanabi!" scolded Hinata, "She is family."

"That doesn't mean you have to like her," I said, "Family by blood you can't choose, family by heart you can."

**July Third**

"Too tight, bitch..." I panted as I reached Hinata, "dressed me.."

Hinata ended up having to cut off the obi that I was wearing and replace it with a new one. I was going to have a large bruise later for that one. That and thankfully I didn't put on the way too small shoes the witch picked out for me, I wore my flats since I was positive no one could see my feet. The kimono itself was too big and I had trouble walking in it. We didn't have enough time for me to get dressed into something that fit me because the bitch turned me into what looked like a nightmare. I wasn't sure if I was supposed to be a zombie or a hooker. The eyes were done to dark, the rouge was smeared halfway up my face, and the charcoal meant for darkening my eyebrows, since they are naturally light, turned them into a uni brow. One thing was for sure, I was killing her before the night ended.

"Lady Hinata," asked a servant, "Your father wishes to see you."

"In a minute.." she said to the servant, "I am not quite ready and my friend needs help."

The servant took one look at me and tried not to laugh, "Did she have trouble with her make up?"

Hinata looked at her, "Haruko."

The old lady sighed, "Sorry poor dear, she is very cruel."

"That would explain a lot," I told her, "By the way where is Neji?"

"He is being escorted by Lord Hiashi," she said helping Hinata clean my face, "Both of you are supposed to already be there."

Hinata and I raced to where we were supposed to be. There still inside were Hanabi, Yuki, Shikamaru, Hiashi, and Neji. Hiashi looked at me and rose his eyebrow for a moment before walking over to me.

"You should not have been late," he said grabbing me by the shoulders.

"I had a wardrobe malfunction," I said as he placed me in between Neji and Yuki, "Why am I here?"

"You are accompanying my nephew," he said, "As a guard."

_HOLY SHIT A DATE! _I screamed in my head while saying out loud, "Okay."

"Psst," I whispered in Neji's ear, "Why are we all lined up?"

"This is a family event, since you and your sister planned everything, you are considered 'honored guests' and will be presented to the family. First Hiashi will go out the door, then Hinata followed by Hanabi, then I will be escorted by you and then your sister who has kidnapped a very upset looking Shikamaru," he replied.

Things went exactly as he told me. Though I felt out of place and wanted to melt under the setting sun when people stared at me. I was very uncomfortable with being shown the spotlight, Yuki however loved it.

Outside there were various things that people could do, ninja and civilians alike. More competitive people could enjoy a race around a small course with either option being a three legged race, a balloon stuck between your legs, or an egg on a spoon in your mouth. For the ninja, there were traps involved and it was made more like a maze than a simple rounded course. A small dance area was provided for the younger people who wanted to socialize, a quiet set up of tables on the opposite end of the area were for the elder members attending. We even separated them out so the main house and the branch family didn't sit close together. Various games were set out like Mafia, which was a card guessing game where you had to guess who was in the mafia, we even got a small tank and put fish in them for people to win, a small area for kids to play stop/go or Simon Says, and a few others. The winners of them could pick out some art I had made that ranged from a small fan to a large canvas, or a small device Yuki came up with. Some would act like a miniature fan, small bags made with explosive powder that set off when thrown on hard surfaces, small beads that when placed in water would cause them to explode, covering the victim in water, or powder that would fizz a bath, hand made yo-yos and small carved weapons, or stuffed animals we made. Though Yuki and I planned a 'dance contest' for the teenagers to get them in on the fun, and there was karaoke.

When Hiashi saw it he told us that we had to do the same thing with Hinata, and Hanabi. We took that as a good indication he liked it. The guests also seemed happy about what we did. The decorations outside were simple, a few colored lanterns strung up and ribbons of fabric dangled from the strings. I even colored some glass containers for tea lights to be lit after it got dark and set them around the area. The total people that showed up was about fifty, since a lot of the Hyuga family invitations were turned down. Most of the other twenty people, that we didn't personally invite, were small children that were in the families of the people we invited.

After saying our hellos I tore myself away, dragging Neji behind me until we found most of our friends already grouped up. Hinata, Yuki, Hanabi, and I explained the best we could about what I saw without telling everyone how I came by it. They promised to help us and we decided to have everyone split up for an hour and meet back here to see if we found out anything. The hour passed and after we gathered, we were informed about who was suspicious.

"There was one guy who kept trying to get Hiashi away from everyone," said Kiba, "Kept going on and on about how he can kill people."

"I caught your mom arguing with Hiashi about something, Kiba," said Ino, "She called him a number of things before she told him she would get him back."

"We found a branch member who thought he was robbed of his birthright," said Hanabi, "Sis and I had to have him escorted off. He wasn't to happy about that, he said he would be back though."

"I found this really quiet guy who was kinda creepy," I said, "He just sits there alone, and swears he has business with Hiashi about something. When Yuki and I told him he we wanted to hang out he kinda got freaked out."

"That is because you played 'I can guess what you are thinking'," said Yuki.

"Hey I only got most of them wrong," I said.

"Yeah but now everyone within ear shot is going to avoid him because they think he is a creepy pervert," she said smacking me,"Nice going."

The rest of them said that everyone was pretty normal but they were freaked out when they couldn't use their normal abilities.

"Oh don't worry, anyone within earshot of this place can't use jutsu," said Yuki, "I made a chakra scrambler and put it in the music. It won't affect you unless you try anything. The worst that happens is you pass out."

"What is going on here?" said a voice that made me and Yuki groan.

"Go away Haruko," I grumbled, "This doesn't concern you."

"It does when I see my cousins plotting something," she smirked.

"Is there a problem?" asked Shino.

"No, this pest is the least of our worries," I mumbled to him, "Ignore her."

"What was that urchin?" she said.

"God, go find someone else to torment," I sighed.

"I would watch myself if I were you," she said before stomping off.

"Neji," I asked, "She doesn't run with a bunch of friends does she?"

"Meaning," he asked.

"Usually people like that have a pack of wolves, no offense Kiba, that help them. She doesn't have a group of friends to fill that role does she?" I asked.

"There are a few other main house members that share her thinking," he said, "I wouldn't attempt to go alone anywhere for the rest of the evening."

"Oh no, I want to catch her in a dark and scary corner and show her what I am made of," I said leering at Haruko.

"I don't think that is wise," said Hanabi, "She will just use that against you."

"God she is slipperier than another snake I know," I said trying not to get my mood ruined.

"Is he pale, creepy, and wants hot fit teenagers for you know..." asked Yuki.

"Yep and he might be a little...you know," I said making my wrist go limp in the air.

After that giggle fit, we told the others thanks for helping us and me and Yuki could get the suspects sorted out on our own. After watching the first one, we were amazed to find out he was a very bad comedian who snuck in with a discarded invitation. Kiba talked to his mom and Tsume was just telling stories and reminiscing about their days as Chunin and how much of a punk Hiashi was. The quiet guy was on the move and Yuki and I followed him, grabbed him, and used hidden blades to pin him to the ground.

"Ah!" he said, "This isn't worth it!"

"Damn straight," I said, "Why are you here?"

The man tossed us a container and darted off. We took it to Hiashi to see what it was, no way were we going to open it, and was surprised to find out it was a letter. Not too long after that the branch family member showed back up, and lucky for us Hiashi went to his office for a while. After pinning him to the ground we found a good reason why he was so upset. I think Yuki and I got a contact high from the intense sake smell that was waiving off him. Letting him go, we asked another member to safely escort him home so he could sleep it off. Since all of our suspects were innocent there was only one thing to do...knock him out. Since he was in the house Yuki could sing him to sleep while I posed as Hiashi, though I would have to switch tapes to a non disrupting version of some of Konoha's musicians. I went and switched the tapes, then checked on Yuki that safely secured Hiashi while I transformed into him. It didn't take me too long after rejoining the party to bump back into Neji.

"I am sorry Lord Hiashi!" he said bowing.

"Don't worry about it Neji," I whispered, "It is me Kori!"

Stunned he looked at me, "Why?"

"All the people we thought were suspicious were all innocent, so I am having Yuki keep Hiashi occupied while I stand in. I hope you don't mind," I told him.

"Are you crazy?" he said pulling me away from the guests, "You could be seriously hurt!"

"Nah," I said, "I switched the music to a 'Jutsu Safe' tape. So I can hold this for a while, that and I can scan the area, well the people anyway."

"Then I will make sure no one does attack you," he said.

"Hell no!" I tried to say before he put his hand on my mouth.

"It is a branch family members duty to protect the head family," he said.

I took his hand off my mouth, "You go with Yuki or find Hinata and Hanabi. That Haruko will be around here somewhere. Besides, I may be neck deep in Hyuga family, but who would attempt to use a Byakugan or other jutsu on Hiashi?"

While sending Neji off, I re-joined everyone and sat down where Hiashi was. Some of the members asked me what had happened. _Thank god for checking Hiashi's brain... _I thought to myself.

"It was just a carpenter asking me about the expansions we are going to be making to the compound later this year," I told them.

I kept mostly to myself and found ways to excuse myself from the main family members. After, uncomfortably I might add, ordering a branch family member for a drink, I waited at the exact spot I saw Hiashi die in. Not even five minutes later I was struck with something in the face and it forced me to fall. There before me I saw Neji with a smile on his face.

"And that is what you get!" said Neji.

I knew that couldn't be the real Neji and used my Impression Jutsu to discover some thoughts of Neji is being punished and Yuki and I being kicked out, it had to be Haruko. Then that Neji ran off into the house for some odd reason. Not even two seconds later a rambling Yuki came out with a very pissed off looking Hiashi. When he saw his double he was very curious on what was going on. He ordered Neji to be captured and brought to him, five minutes later Neji was with a few other branch members being held. Hinata and Hanabi thankfully followed.

"What is going on?" asked Hanabi.

"I am wondering the same thing myself," said Hanabi.

"Well sir," I said shifting back to myself, "Can we speak privately?"

Unfortunately Tsunade had witnessed most of the event and decided to join us. When we went back into his office, Tsunade asked us what was going on.

"Well yesterday when finishing the decorations, I had a moment and saw Hiashi laying on the ground covered in red. I thought he died, so with the help of our friends we figured out who it was," I told them.

"What do you mean?" asked Tsunade.

"When around people I can pick up thoughts...it used to be only recent memories, and I can see through their eyes...with my water chakra I can paint anything I see...along with what they see too," I said, "Yesterday I must have picked up on Haruko's plot to torment Neji."

"Haruko?" said Hiashi, "Why do you think she would do this?"

"Give me a piece of paper, and ink," I said, "Before you ask...I can't lie, this doesn't work for me. I have to be able to have seen it before I can work it."

I then used the Impression Jutsu to paint the last thing Haruko thought. It was an image of her using the curse mark on Neji on half the page. On the other half it was her smiling as she saw Yuki and I barred from the Compound. Hiashi was about to dismiss the idea but he was told by both his daughters that Neji was with them the entire time. Still supicious I asked that Haruko be escorted to the room, or at least asked and informed him she was probably in a nearby bathroom or her room. He did co-operate with us then and Haruko was brought.

"What am I doing here?" she asked us.

"May I see your hands?" I asked her.

"Why?" she said.

When she held up her hands I used Impression Jutsu again and used the ink to paint her filling the balloon up with syrup and then taking Neji's clothes and dressing up like him. Well it did help that she did vaugly remembled Neji, and she was caught in the bathroom when a servant came to get her. Tsunade even found that her hands were slightly sticky with residue from the jelly. Hiashi had no choice but to belive us and he had Haruko escorted to her rooms for the rest of the evening.

"I asked you to protect my nephew," he said while returning to his desk, "I would think that you could have done so without all the mess."

Tsunade told us we could leave before she had a word with Hiashi. With that Yuki, Hinata, Hanabi, Neji and the others went back outside while I went to change clothes. When I was finished I joined them back outside and found that the sun had already set. I found Yuki forcing Shikamaru to dance while Neji was sitting down with Hinata looking up at the sky. I snuck over behind them and grabbed them both into a hug, scaring poor Hinata.

"H-h-hello," she said recovering.

"So what'cha talking about?" I said, "Nah, don't tell me. Better a surprise than anything else."

"You are so wierd," said Neji.

"Hey I took a jelly balloon for your uncle and had to show Tsunade my talent," I said trying to tickle him, "Plus I saved you from the punishment. You owe me."

He captured my hands and looked at me, "Do I now?"

"Yep, you owe me a dance," I said helping him off the ground.

"I do not dance," he said.

"Oh my god," I gasped, "You can't dance!"

"No I choose not to," he blushed.

"Uh-huh," I said dragging him over to the dance floor, "Prove it."

When we made it on the floor he stood there for moment before trying to get away. I then had to all but jump on his back to keep him on the floor.

"Look pretend you are sparring," I told him, "Just follow me and try not to actually hit me..."

"Fight you?" he asked.

"Yeah, a lot of dances I know came from fighting," I told him, "Don't be embarassed, you won't look like a fool, you are friends with me and I will tell them otherwise."

"That makes me feel better," he said.

"Sarcasm," I smiled, "I like it."

We then began to fake spar against one another, weaving and doging all the 'attacks' we made against one another. I even threw in some of my more pecular moves to dance with him. I actually got him to enjoy the whole thing, and we were so busy dancing that we didn't notice everyone gather around us. Yuki stopped the music and then declared us the winners of the dance contest, which I stood there akwardly and recived.

"What is wrong sis?" asked Yuki while still holding me in place.

"Crowd, people..." I said panicking, "Must...retreat."

I darted out of the crowd of people and found a tree to sit under. Neji then followed me and sat down beside me.

"You forgot this," he said handing me the silly trophy Yuki and I made.

"Oh," I said taking it, "It is half yours."

"Why did you run?" he asked.

"I don't like crowds of people, they make me very nervous," I blushed.

"You get nervous?" he said suprised.

"I don't like a lot of attention, makes me feel out of place. I like cheering people on," I told him.

"I have seen you sing," he told me.

"Yeah but the lights they shine on your block out how many people are watching you," I said.

"So do you get nervous around me?" he asked.

"Totally," I laughed, "But we are friends so it smooths out the rough bits. Now if you randomly kissed me or suprised hugged me I may flip out."

"Thank you," he said, "This would have to have been my best birthday."

"You are welcome," I said, "What are friends for? Can I ask you something?"

"What?" he asked.

"Well it is more like a compliment than anything," I said blushing, "You look really cute today."

"You did too," he said before grabbing me and hugging me.

I blushed so many shades of red after that, and the only reason I knew is that Neji laughed after he sat me back up.

"You should do that more often," I told him.

"What?" he asked.

"Laugh," I replied, "Your laugh is calming."

"The party is almost over," he said getting up, "We better join everyone."

"Yeah," I said walking beside him, "Before Yuki sends out a search party, or worse Ino comes up with some crazy idea that we are off doing something inappropriate."

"Like what?" he asked.

"You just want me to say it don't you," I said trying to focus on the ground.

"Say what?" he said playing innocent.

"That we were making out okay!" I said slightly frustrated but more embarassed.

"And what if we were?" he asked.

I think I passed out after that.

* * *

* Since the Hyuga Clan is one of the four noble clans of Konoha (others being Akimichi, Kurama, and Uchiha), it would be less likley that they are able to associate, and even less likely to marry (Just saying here to get a point across), outside of the clan of themselves. If they are treated like the actual royal family of Japan. If someone would marry outside the family, they would lose thier status. Even though Neji was born to Hizashi, he would be considered a 'prince' sort of (if going by that rule), he was restricted from ever succeding the house because of the curse seal. So I am going to treat this similar to other stories I have read where if the person in question would be able to prove themselves to the family and it is acceptable then it is okay...and because I say so damit!

Yarrow- Used to stop bleeding and as a disinfectant, cool right.

In Japan Shichi Go San (Seven-Five-Three) parties are held, to ward off bad luck, and for guys the unlucky years (Yakudoshi) are 24 and 41, with 41 being extreamly 'jumpy'. They constantly visit shrines during thier 41 year to ward off bad luck. Girls the unlucky ages are 18 and 32. And for the japanese the biggest birthday is when they turn 60 (Kanreki), and it is held with a feast, they also call this the 'second infancy' stage. Reason being is that is 'personal calender' and the zodiac calender are the exact same as the time (meaning it restarts, sorta) he was born. There are some other birthday traditions but some of them were carried over from places like China.

In the United States, I belive the most celebrated, or looked forward to, birthdays are 13 (when a child becomes an offical teenager) 16 (when they are old enough to drive) 18 (when they can move out and are legally an adult) 21 (when they can drink) and 25 (when insurance lowers for them...wierd right). So I am going to mix and match East and West culture here...though Neji doesn't drive, it is still good to make someone feel special, no matter how small the way is.

The music: The VCR/tape uses magnets to record video and audio...electricity can also become magnet if you place wire around a nail...and you get the point. Kakashi uses lightining release as well...That and I say it is so...so it shall be...

The song is Goodnight by Evanescence.

The insparation I got for this is caporiea, there is a vid on youtube for it the one I used is this : http:/ /www. youtube. com/ watch?v= Z8xxgFpK -NM&f eature=related or you can put "The best capoeira video ever" and click search. It was uploaded by clubb22 and should be the first one. A brach of dance style called Krump was based of this style of martial arts. I do belive they implimented this style of fighting in 'Catwoman' if I am not mistaken.

* * *

**SilverMusic: **No making them mad is a death sentance so to speak. Yes since Tsunade already knows of Kori's ability, there is only a matter of time before Yuki's is found out. Kori is evil, just in a cute way. Yes Linkin Park is the bomb, there is hardly any song they put out I do not like.

**AlphenWolf: **Congrats you have been implimented as a delivery boy...Just until I think of something else. No you are right. They don't offically have relationships with the boys yet. I am putting that on hold for now but the 'end is near' well for the girls' single life anyway.

* * *

**River: **Whew a lot of chapter and a lot of notes. I hope you enjoyed the birthday and the run in with the nuisance named Haruko. I really like the way I am turning Yuki into a whiz at things... I blame the cheesy 'Clue' like setting from watching the movie they made about the game so much as a kid. So they are practicing with their skills. The natural abilities they have will develop farther ...okay next I may put in a chappy for Shikamaru's birthday before the Chunin exams...I kinda want to get the exams out of the way...so yeah. I think a Shikamaru birthday would be good but if I kept him in character he would attempt to kill the girls for throwing him a party like I did for Neji.


	13. Chapter 13: Cake and Permission

It was close to the Chunin Exams and Yuki and I were doing our best to try and get sensei to allow us to participate. Tanzo was going to be able to, we knew that was for sure, but we were worried that we wouldn't be able to. After one of our more recent missions, Yuki had to use her Heartsong ability to save Tanzo's life after we were ambushed when tracking down a criminal that needed capturing. Needless to say we were chewed out by Tsunade for keeping our abilities a secret for so long. Though she was happy that we were learning how to control our gifts and that they had become stronger. Over the months though both Yuki and I had changed.

We both decided to allow our hair to grow out, now Yuki had hers tied in a flower style bun on each side of her head with two long braids hanging down and crossing over themselves on the back. Her bangs now reached past her shoulders, and she decided to update her look. Now she wore a white and pink colored kimono top with bell sleeves, that was cut so it tied under her boobs. Under that she wore a simple light green body suit, but unlike Rock Lee and Gai, hers were cut so it fit like shorts. Pale pink leggings that came up mid thigh were also part of her wardrobe, along with shin guards kept in place by a ribbon that was attached to her Chinese style flat shoes. She now carried a kunai holder that was similar to my old one and came across her hip for easy retireval.

I now wore a simple black vest, tailored so it would form a V shape on either side of my ribs and fit like a tank top. Under that I wore a light red tunic like shirt, that split at my hip and came down to mid thigh, that was made so one side had an over sized sleeve that covered my left hand, and the other side did not have one. I still kept my black shorts and fitted two thick strips of cloth that attached to the bottom of them and connected to red leg warmers that covered my shinobi boots, which was useful to keep kunai in. Now my kunai pouch was fitted on a belt that rested so I could retrieve them from my lower back, I also kept miniature scrolls and pigments for my Impression Jutsu. My bangs now covered my left eye and went to my cheeks, and my two uneven strands of hair reached my shoulders, now I wore a simple bun style to keep my hair from getting caught in everything. I also now kept my konoha bandana around my neck for safe keeping.

When we returned on our latest mission it was already September twenty second. Yuki remembered what day it was and began to flip out.

"Calm down woman," I said grabbing her, "I doubt he would be up at three in the morning."

"He always wakes up at around six," she said, "What if his family wake him up because of today?"

"I doubt it," I yawned, "I am going home, there is a large fluffy, soft, silky, glorious, warm, not moving from it for hours, bed."

"Come with me!" said Yuki dragging me behind her.

"Bed!" I fussed, "Bed, bed, bed, bed, no, bed, bed, bed, leggo, bed bed, bed, FINE!"

"I knew you would agree," she smiled.

"We are almost there!" I said pointing at Ino's house, "Home is the other way."

"Stop whining," she said.

"The next tree we pass I am passing out in it," I huffed, "This isn't a good idea."

Our argument lasted until we reached the police department, then we just walked in silence down the street. We were halfway down when a few questionable looking people stepped out of the alley way.

"What have we go here?" said one.

"I wouldn't mind taking them home," said another.

"Does this mean you have a bed?" I asked before Yuki hit me, "What was just a question."

"Yeah I got a bed, and you can pass out there once I am finished," he said drawing a knife.

"Lame," I said, "Look if you are going to be intimidating, jump your target, then threaten thier life, then offer 'hospitality', THEN have your way with them, after you bound and gag them. It keeps them from screaming."

"Kori!" yelled Yuki.

"What, I am just trying to help," I said, "Fine, you take the three on the left, I get the three on the right, we meet in the middle, and they say goodnight."

"Wha?" said one.

"And no cheating," I grumbled as I caught the closest one to me off guard with a punch to his gut.

After they were all knocked out, I was bored so I decided to tie them all up and steal their left shoe. It seemed like a good idea at the time, and they were knocked out cold, so they couldn't complain. I pouted when Yuki told me that we had to leave because I wanted to teach them more of a lesson. The police arrived because someone reported a commotion. Yuki was upset because it delayed her from being sweet to Shikamaru, I was upset because I had to stay there awake for two more hours. When that was over I finally convinced Yuki to let me go home and sleep, before I killed anyone I wasn't supposed to.

I arrived home as fast as possible, opened the door, closed it behind me, and began stripping all the way to my room before falling asleep.

**Yuki's POV**

I could have killed Kori, it was Shikamaru's birthday today and she didn't even care. Frustrated I told her she could go home while I finished walking to Shikamaru's house. There were no lights on and the gates were closed, which made me more upset that Kori could have been right. I knew better than to try and sneak into another person house, they could have millions of traps, so to speak. I sat outside for a moment debating on what to do. Then it hit me, I was going to make him a cake for his birthday. Smiling to myself in my thoughts I did not hear someone come up behind me.

"Yuki?" came a voice that made me jump out of my skin.

"Shikamaru?" I said when I turned around to find him there.

"What are you doing here?" he asked.

"Wishing you a happy birthday," I said before hugging him.

"Thanks," he sighed, "I have business at the Academy."

"So what are you doing for your birthday?" I asked.

"The usual," he said, "Get my assignments turned in then stare and watch the clouds. Until my mom comes and drags me away to celebrate my birthday with the family. Before you think about it I do not want a party. I like the quiet, at a party everyone expects you to be social. I just don't really care enough."

"Oh don't worry I wasn't planning anything like that," I said, "Hey, do you know when the registration for the Chunin Exams are?"

"Last week was the deadline," he said before walking off, "Why?"

"Oh I was hoping that Kori and I could do the Exams this year," I sighed, "We have really been looking forward to it. Working our butts off too. Sensei said it would be a long shot for Kori and I, since we haven't been genin that long. That and then there is Tsunade to worry about."

"She only worries about you," said Shikamaru, "Don't get upset over nothing."

"I just feel like we are ready though, that and the impending sense of doom I keep having now and again," I said,"is a really good motivator."

"Impending sense of doom?" said Shikamaru raising an eyebrow, "You hang out with Kori too much."

"I live with her, so she rubs off," I said, "Maybe a hot springs trip will kill the Kori germs."

"How long have you been awake?" he asked.

"Not that long," I lied, "Kori and I just got back from a mission."

"Troublesome," he muttered, "Go home, you look exhausted."

"Alright," I said following him.

After reaching the house, I parted ways with Shikamaru and began making plans for the cake. I decided that a sushi cake would be the best, since he loved kelp and I could use that to separate the layers. Though I would have to threaten Kori's life if she even thought about touching it. Her favorite food in the world was sushi. I grabbed a small sheet of paper and scribbled down the ingredients that I would need and left it on the fridge for later, along with a threat for Kori. After that, I decided to take a nap. I didn't want to be falling over myself when giving Shikamaru his present.

**Kori's POV**

I woke up sometime later fully rested and went to the kitchen to get me a snack. I noticed a note on the fridge, Yuki had written a list of stuff for me to get at the store and threatened my life if I ate any. Sighing I picked up my clothes and went to my bed room to change. After getting dressed I headed down to the store and began hunting for the ingredients. Not even ten minutes into hunting, I got extremely bored. So I began humming the "Ding Dong Song" and dancing like an idiot. I was bent over looking at the fish, shaking my butt to the line 'deep in the night I'm looking for some fun' and heard a voice behind me.

"What has you in a good mood?" asked Ino.

I jumped up and turned around,"Oh nothing. I am bored, and a bored Kori isn't a happy Kori."

"So what are you cooking?" she asked.

"Nothing, Yuki wants to make Shikamaru something for his birthday," I sighed grabbing the fish and placing it in my basket, "So while she is sleeping, I am hunting for ingredients."

"When can we see you back at the hospital?" she asked.

"I dunno," I shrugged, "Maybe tomorrow."

After that Ino said goodbye and I finished getting the stuff and headed back home. There Yuki was already waiting for me and pounced me and stole the ingredients when I opened the door. Worried about her sanity, I avoided her at all costs because she had the same creepy laughter I had when I though of something evil. Retreating to my room I thought of something to give to Shikamaru and before I knew it I was lazily drawing random colored lines everywhere on the page. When I looked at it upside down it sorta resembled a deer so I finished connecting the lines and was happy with myself. Soon we found Shikamaru knocking on our door after the Academy had let out. The same ritual happened every day when we were around, Shikamaru would always stop by for some tea and Yuki would happily pretend to listen to complaints while off in her dreamland. I thought it was cute, but many death glares and beatings later, I kept my mouth shut.

Yuki had just finished making the cake and invited him in for some. When he sat down she laid the weirdly shaped cake down.

"Happy birthday!" she said.

"Thanks?" questioned Shikamaru when looking at the cake, "It is a giant rice ball."

"No silly it is a sushi cake! Made with fish, kelp, rice, bean paste for a bit of sweetness and wasabi," she said, "I couldn't decide on what shape to make it in, so it looks weird."

"Oh," he said smiling, "I can't eat a lot of it, mom would kill me if I went home and didn't eat any of the things she made me."

"Take it with you," she said putting on the 'I will eat your soul' smile.

Shikamaru sighed and agreed, rather than making Yuki upset. He had seen way to much of me picking at her and her being mad at me to want to be on the receiving end. After much begging, I got Shikamaru to tell Yuki to give me a slice. It was awesome, and the poor fluffy rice never stood a chance. As I was finishing the last bite Yuki and I were summoned to the Hokage's office. We got there as fast as we could and went to see what Tsunade wanted to talk to us about. We stood there in front of her desk, hoping it wasn't another bad thing.

"The reason I have called you here," said Tsunade, "Is the fact that the Chunin Exams are around the corner. I have heard from your sensei, Hayama, that you wish to participate in the Exams. Tanzo had already received permission from him and that leaves the question of you two. Looking over your missions, you both have a high success rate, and have had little trouble adjusting to life as a shinobi. You also have most of your memories return and have proven to be physically and mentally sound. However since both of you hold secrets, there is a high chance that you two would be targets for criminals and other individual factions that would use the knowledge for their own benefit. With this said, weighing the pros and cons, and leaving the desicion based upon me and your sensei, I believe that I can grant you special permission to take the Exams next month."

"But the deadline was last week," said Yuki.

"As Hokage I can personally enter late entries," smirked Tsunade, "Plus, we had already entered your names. Hayama belives that you are capable to handle yourselves. Pack your bags for a long trip. You leave for Sunagakure in two days."

"Suna," I gasped, "As in Gaara is going to be there?"

"Kori," Yuki warned.

"Is there a problem?" said Tsunade as she narrowed her eyes.

"Not unless you count the hearts in her eyes and the random thoughts of hugging him," said Yuki.

"I am not that bad," I pouted, "He is adorable and needs lovin'."

"He is the Godaime Kazekage, you would probably get killed before you get close to him," said Yuki.

"Then I will just give his present to Temari or Kankuro," I smiled.

After both Tsunade and Yuki threatening me with lots of pain should I embarrass Konoha or try my usual outbursts, I had to come up with a better approach. We then packed up our stuff and then began to make our way towards Suna. Though it was really interesting with Tsunade keeping a VERY close eye on both us. By the time the trip was finished, I had already slipped sleeping pills into her sake and made a run for it. However Kakashi, who was recruited for our 'safty', or as I call it man handler, he stopped us before we could get too far.

"Why did you do that?" asked Kakashi.

"Before or after the hugging, yelling, beating, squishing, doting, accusing, worrying, lecturing.." I listed.

"Can it Kori," said Yuki, "God when she wakes up she will be pissed."

"Actually she should feel rather well rested, jesus I had to place enough drugs in there to kill a giant toad," I told her.

"Why?" she asked.

"Tsunade, greatest med nin known to anyone. Specialty was once a long time ago to develop cures for poisons that came out of Suna. Why wouldn't sleepy pills not be under that. Do you know what you could do to a sleeping person? Hey, that look you are giving me...Stop that," I said when I saw the hearts appear in Yuki's eyes.

Tsunade woke up and chewed me and Yuki out for making her fall asleep but she did realize she was being a bit overprotective of us. Thankfully we were already in Suna and we had to finish registering and then find a place to sleep. While Yuki was being the mature one, I was wandering around the hotel we were staying at enjoying some pocky. I saw two people arguing over something and then my mischief thoughts began to form. I ran over to them and introduced myself.

"Hi I am Kori, can I hug you?" I said smiling.

One of them got a 'I will kill you look' before he lunged at me. I bounced on my tiptoes and weaved away from him. Still munching on pocky I looked down when he hit the floor.

"Um I asked for a hug, you got a kunai, that isn't fair," I said cacthing light shining off the blade of his hidden weapon.

"Come on Sedan," said the girl, "We don't have time for Konoha rejects."

"Oh thank you, I think you are one of a kind too," I said stepping over the boy.

I managed to quickly occupy myself with other things and before I knew it, it was time for us to sleep. Still excited that Gaara was going to be there, all I could do was toss and turn in our room. Finally I started rummaging through my pack and found my little colored sandstone statue of the Suna Siblings. I turned my head and made sure no one was looking and then I cuddled up into a corner and snuggled the statue. Ten minutes later I was asleep.

* * *

Picture of Kori and Yuki: I finally found a way to upload my pics, since my friggin scanner is retarted.

These are the old costumes I had them in...and I think my art sucks anyway so if you think so to then it is alright. If the pic links don't show up, the former costumes can be found on Deviant art and look under the user Riverseither, and the last one, since DA is being a frustrating machine, is on Photobucket under the user name KarasuSuki...under the self titled album on the last page. You have to filter through my randomness to get to it, but it is titled Older Kori and Yuki.

Kori: http:/ riverseithr. deviantart. com /#/ d3hq4l1

Yuki: http:/ riverseithr. deviantart. com /#/ d3hq4we

Older Yuki/Kori : http:/ /i659. photobucket .com/ albums/ uu318 /KarasuSuki/

* * *

**Alphenwolf: **Hanabi is also part of the main family, I think I wrote her as a bit kinder in the story but we don't get to see much of her in the anime/manga anyway. As for Haruko, who knows she may appear in later chapters...hehehe. I am glad you liked your little cameo..I giggled when I wrote it.

**SilverMusic: ***giggles* yeah Kori is kinda accepted isn't she...Shikamaru probably thought about it but he was with Yuki, who didn't allow him to leave, that and he doesn't really bother with anything that seems like too much work. Shikamaru blush? I like it. Thanks, both Yuki and Kori are going to develop along the story, though I am not 100% sure where I am taking Kori. Plus, I am happy that you found yourself laughing. It brings me joy to know that my crazy ideas are liked by someone else.

**Sukaretto Miyuki: **Thanks for liking my story so much. It is good to see that I have another reader who will comment on the chapters I write. Crazy things are formed in this head of mine, some are funny others are scary, but I am glad you like it. As for Haruko, I wrote her that way. I have an evil plan for her so bear with me until she makes a reappearance.

* * *

**River: **I am sorry this chapter is short compared to the others, but I think starting off fresh then into the exams would be better than doing this bit and then the exams and have a ridiculous chapter to read. I have some bad news readers. I have a death in the family and must be away from my computer so the chapter will be late, again. I will make it extra fun, funny, and such to make up for the delay. **  
**


	14. Chapter 14:Chunin Exams!

It was the day of the first part of the Exam. Yuki and I already knew what the test consisted of and were ready for anything. Over the past couple of days, we used bells attached to us and various 'normal' gestures to communicate. We knew that it was less likely that we would be close to one another but even with our backs turned we managed to come up with something. I even caught a glimpse of what some of the proctors were thinking about and was able to pick up that they were going to use genjutsu this year. So before we went down to get our numbers I had Yuki and Tanzo stick small pins in their clothing, so if they were to move or slouch they would be pricked. This time we were broken into small groups, one team member from each were given to one of the three groups. Then we were tested either in the morning, noon, or afternoon and the test was supposed to be about four hours for each.

I was chosen to be in the noon group, while Yuki was in the morning, and Tanzo was at night. While the tests were going on, no one was allowed to get near the rooms they were using, if you did, your team was disqualified. While Yuki was taking her test, I decided to try and track down the Sand Siblings. I went back to my room and grabbed the statue and then made my way down to where I thought they would be. After a few hours of searching, I could not find hide nor hair of either of them and began to get worried and sad. Then an idea appeared in my head, maybe Tsunade would know where they went. While on my way to find her I ran into the girl from yesterday.

"If it isn't Konoha's Reject," she smugly said.

"Look, I would love to make fun of you, but I am sorta busy right now and it really is too easy," I said trying to look around her.

"What was that?" she said.

"It is too easy, I mean look your hair is like a rainbow, your personality is probably shallow, and you don't seem like someone who has a sense of humor," I said walking away.

She tried to grab me but I leaned back slightly. Unfortunately for me she grabbed my present to Gaara, Temari, and Kankuro.

"Hey, give that back!" I said jumping after it.

"What is this?" she said looking at it, "Does someone have a crush on the monster?"

"Yo, he isn't a monster. He is a person, and...HEY Don't do that!" I jumped after the sandstone when she threw it to the ground.

I just skidded short of catching it. When I picked it up, I thought it was fine but as I lifted it off the ground, where I carved Temari's fan broke and the carved stone was now in a few pieces. The girl just smiled and left. I slowly gathered up the pieces and ran off. I was really upset about the statue, but there wasn't much I could do about it. My time was almost up and I would have to take the test. I just went back to my room and left a note for Yuki for when she came back to the room. I then went to the area we were supposed to meet and gathered with the rest of the other groups. After being shown in, we were seated and the written part of the exam was handed out. Well all the tricks we had been working on wouldn't work, but that still did not mean I couldn't cheat. Looking over the questions, I could answer some of them myself, but there were some complex math problems and a few of knowledge and history of ninja. A subject Yuki and I didn't have much experience with. So using my Impression Jutsu, I scanned the people around me until I found those who were confident with themselves and used the pen to draw out some ink and copy the answers.

A few hours passed in the test and something felt off. It was like the air in the room was becoming thick. Remembering about the genjutsu image from earlier, I began focusing on getting the small needles in my clothing to prick me. After a minute the air began to feel normal. Testing to see if I did anything I used my Impression Jutsu on one of the nearby proctors, and saw that he was looking around the room for people who had fallen under the jutsu. Halfway through the test however the lights went out. I carefully took a pin out of my clothes and pricked my finger. Then I squeezed a little bit of blood out, and when the lights came back on there were a few people missing, even some of the proctors. Since we weren't allowed weapons, I would have to make due with this. I wasn't sure if those students failed or what, but I wasn't taking any chances. Concentrating I began to use my Impression Jutsu for a different ability. Now not only could I near instantly copy down images, I could also create a moving picture with the ink that would 'record' up to three minutes of whomever I was using it on, and through concentrating, any liquid that was nearby I could form into small weapons or bindings. They wouldn't last long but it would give me a surprise, and when I used the weapon I could inject some of my chakra to imbalance theirs and stun them for a few seconds.

An hour passed and I was scanning over everyone in the room to make sure they were not trying to do anything funny. I saw some of them targeting some other students, team mates of the previous group, and I went rigid. One of them was beside me and oblivious to the fact that they were being targeted for whatever reason. They weren't from Konoha, but I wasn't about to let another nin be taken if I could do anything about it. When the lights went off again, I concentrated on the person going to take the genin beside me and I tossed the small shard that I held in my hand at them. I couldn't tell if I missed or not, but when the lights came back on I had some angry looking person starring at me. I looked up and gulped. I knew they caught me throwing that and I was fixing to get kicked out and ruin my teams chances. He just grunted at me and walked off, and a few long hours later the test was over. We were shown out of the room and allowed to have free time while the next group took the test.

I made a beeline to my room and found Yuki there trying to patch up the statue with glue and some bandages. It looked a bit weird but it was fixed, well as much as it was ever going to be. So while on our way to find out where the Sand Siblings were I decided to ask her about her test.

"So did the lights go out on you?" I asked.

"No, they didn't. The proctors hit the people who failed with, I think it was an eraser. Maybe they took the other team mates out for scare factor and to, I don't know other stuff?" she said walking ahead of me.

"Well then why have the team members who have already failed still continue with the written test?" I wondered aloud.

"Maybe it was to scare the others, I don't know Suna is Suna and Konoha is Konoha," she said, "I think I saw someone over there!"

"Who?" I asked startled when she began dragging me behind her.

When she finally stopped I gasped. There sitting down, having something to drink was Kankuro. I knew hearts had formed in my eyes. Now the only thing to do was run over there, give him a hug, and then give him Gaara's present. I couldn't just approach him all fan girl like, that would creep him out and I would probably get my face kicked in for it. So Yuki and I decided to whisper plans to one another. One was to chase one another and crash into him, one was to pretend to be lost and ask him random questions, but before we finished running over the plans Kankuro had gotten up and walked off. We tried looking after him but to no avail. Tanzo had already taken the written part of the exam and was looking for us. Instead of waiting the teams who had passed the first portion of the exam were to meet outside the main gates. Frustrated we went and gathered with the rest of them.

Each team was handed a box. Out of the boxes, four held enough water for a team to pass through the course, three held food, one had a map that was marked with areas to retrieve food and water, along with where the finish line was, another had a compass, and two had medical equipment, and the rest were duds. Each team had to run a course through the desert that was equivalent of three days time, and there were certain check points that we had to reach while running through it, along with avoiding traps. We also had to keep our boxes, each numbered specifically and the ones that held duds at the end were disqualified. The object was to get a specific code to reach the finish line, we also had to survive the trip through the desert. Only five sets of boxes had the code that we needed, and we had to use the three days to figure out the code, to help each box had a hint inside. Then the proctors told us the coordinates to where the finish line was and began to separate us. The teams were spaced out around Suna and we were given the okay to leave and find the area when the sun set.

"Alright what do we have in our box?" asked Tanzo.

"We have some food, the number one, and _mirai_ the kanji for future," said Yuki.

"Alright, first we have to find the person with the map, who is going to be the most sought after, other than those with the water," I said.

"But what about you?" said Tanzo, "We don't need water when you are around. You can make it."

"Aside from that point, yes I can but we still need the boxes for the combination to get us inside the finish. Even if we don't have all the boxes, we can figure out the code," I said smiling at Yuki.

"I am not a safe cracker," she said narrowing her eyes at me.

I pouted, "But you are so good with numbers! Tanzo here makes marvelous bait, and I am good with pranks."

"Why am I the bait?" fussed Tanzo.

"Because you can't put people to sleep, make sand traps, and...wait...you CAN make glass," I smiled.

"What do you mean?" he said backing away slowly.

"Fire plus sand equals molten ammo, and if we cool it down we can make glass. It will take a few hours, and I would only do it in the day, but we could use glass as a distraction and weapons. We don't have a lot of time on our hands, nor do we know if the sand out here is usable to make glass, but we can find out. Another thing. We need to store the food somewhere else, in case of attack. We can fill the container with sand, and if Yuki helps we can sand scrub the number off and then place a decoy number. I will etch the real number on me, somewhere it won't be seen," I said.

"Kori, put them in one of your scrolls," said Yuki, "I know you picked up that skill somewhere along the line."

I giggled, "Yeah I can seal it away."

I took a miniature scroll from my belt and began making the proper sealing circles for the food. That would make it easier to carry, and they would be after the box anyway. After sealing the food away, we filled the container with sand and used some of my water chakra and Yuki's wind chakra to scrub away the original number. After that I used sand and some of the colored pigments and made colored sand and etched the number on my left arm, where my sleeve would cover it. After making some plans, I decided to use my pigment to change the colors of our outfits to make them better suited for the desert. That way we would be harder to see. When everything was prepared we set off toward the coordinates we were given. Thankfully Tanzo had the knowledge we needed to get us going in the right direction.

The night wasn't so bad, we managed to avoid most of the traps and avoided the teams for now. The desert night was about as kind as the day, if you were not careful you could freeze to death. So finding a good place to sleep was priority now. When we found a good place to rest we slept in shifts. After we woke, with no trouble we headed off to where we believed another team could be. We were fortunate to get the jump on them and had little trouble stealing their box, which was a dud but held another number and another hint.

"What is a desert dweller that may bear a dragon?" read Tanzo.

"Cactus," I said, "Dragon fruit comes from the prickly pear and a cacti grow or dwells in a desert."

"Future cactus?" said Tanzo.

"Gimme the number," I sighed.

We wrote nine on my arm below the one and then dropped the box and continued our journey. There wasn't anything in the rules stating that we had to have all the boxes to enter the finish area. Roaming around for a few hours we had to stop and find shelter from a sand storm that passed over us. Once it passed there was another team that tried to jump us. After a few cuts and bruises, we ended up being the winner and were fortunate enough to open their box and find another hint, and after a pat down a canteen that still had water in it.

"What does it say?" asked Yuki.

"Long ago in darkest night there were ten. When man became god, the heavens gave them light to shine at night. Nine there are now since nothing comes without a price, three there were but not anymore, only one may hear my voice. One is there still, not monster nor man but more," read Tanzo.

"I know the answer. You two come with me," I said taking off toward the finishing area.

"Can you tell me what this is all about?" asked Yuki.

"Listen to your inner fangirl," I chuckled, "Who loves ai, found in the kanji _mirai, _who also knows about cactai, and if my hunch is correct is a jinchūriki. That story was about the ten-tails and the Sage of the Six Paths sealing him. There were two hosts before Gaara, and he is also known as both a man and a monster. I think I know who did the rules for this game...Kankuro. Oh boy when Temari hears about this, she is going to flip! The answer is his birthday...most likely. The number on the box was a four, so I am guessing the missing numbers, are another two ones and two other nines. If we take out pairs then we are left with one-nine-four."

"What if you are wrong?" she said.

"Then a bored Kori will be back tracking," I smiled adding maniacal laughter.

"Please let her be right," muttered a terrified Tanzo.

We continued to the area and made it with little trouble, though we were jumped by two teams who decided to join up, but were no match for Yuki wailing on them in more ways than one. When we made it to the site, it was a high wall with birds flying over it, our guess it was an oasis. We found the door and sure enough there were three slots attached to a string. Nearby there were equally weighted stones and carefully we placed in the correct number of stones in each slot. When we were finished we heard a click and the door opened. As the door opened the stones fell into the slots permanently and when we made it through the door closed behind us, locking us in. A bit terrified that we made the wrong choice, we carefully entered the area and found, to my delight Tsunade and Gaara. My eyes light up and I jumped up and down like a kid in a toy store, well with out the running and grabbing toys part.

"Are you him? Is that really him, please let it be him!" I said beginning to hyperventilate.

Yuki wacked me over the head and sat on me before apologizing to Gaara.

"Sorry she really likes you," she bowed.

"This is unexpected, I would have thought you three would have been out there for at least another night. You have been the first ones here," said Tsunade, "How?"

"Tanzo...Yuki crushing me...knows geography well and helped us with coordinates, Yuki still crushing me...helped me with numbers...and Yuki get off me...I know a lot about you and your bro made this combination to the door and it happened to be your birthday Gaara," I finally managed.

"There were only three slots," said Gaara emotionlessly.

"We took out the pairs, January nineteenth nineteen-" I began to say before Tanzo helped pin me down and covered my mouth.

"Sorry she is really weird," said Tanzo laughing nervously.

Pissed off I used my Impression jutsu to push an image of something scary into Tanzo's mind and then threw Yuki off me, "Cut it out you two! I am NOT I repeat NOT going to harm him...I just have hero crush that is all."

"Hero...crush?" asked Gaara.

I couldn't help myself that was so cute. It was official, he was getting hugged since I couldn't keep him in my closet and feed him cookies.

"Cute...overload," I muttered before melting to the floor.

"Cute?" he said glaring, or raising and eyebrow, I couldn't tell.

"Gaara the cutest person I know with a heart wrenching background and if they were still kicking I would beat the living daylights out of everyone that gave you a hard time, but now you are liked by your village because you are Kaze...sorry I am rambling," I blushed, "Oh I made you something!"

I reached into my pack and brought out the repaired statue, there were still cracks in it but over the course of the secondary part of the exam I began to use my chakra to fix it. I held it up and looked away slightly before slowly turning to see what Gaara was going to do. I didn't know if he was going to Sand Coffin me or what, either way I was happy now. He was looking at it blinking, unsure what to do. This made his cuteness level hit off the charts in my brain. I looked at Tsunade pleading with puppy eyes.

"Please can I hug him?" I begged, "I can't stand it anymore...No torture is worse than not hugging him!"

"Hug me?" he asked, "Why would you do something like that?"

"Because I want to be your friend and I like to hug people and you look like you could use a huggin'," I said.

"Friend?" he asked.

"Yeah! It doesn't matter if Shukaku is in there or not...He doesn't scare me. What scares me is people lacking friends," I told him.

"You know about Mother?" he asked.

I began crying, "Yes and it is so sad! Sorry emo moment."

It didn't last long because images of duck-butt uchiha popped into my head. I didn't have any personal grudges against him other than making Sakura and Naruto cry but his hair always gave me a laugh, another reason my my hair was once so short. So it could match his, and I could laugh when I looked in the mirror.

"Kori," Yuki sighed.

"What? I am meeting a pretty impressive person right now and I don't know what to say or do. Sorry Gaara, but like you I was kinda shunned as a kid and didn't have any friends until I moved to another village, you might say. Yuki was always there but since we hardly ever saw one another it didn't help, Yuki here is my kinda inner friend or saving me from whatever type thing. Since then I don't know how to treat people and I let my emotions, as crazy as they are get in the way and I am scarred of new people, but not of you," I said looking at Gaara.

"Why are you not afraid?" he asked.

"Why should I be? Yes you are a Jinchuriki, but that doesn't make you less of a person. It makes you so much cooler! Everyone is special and you are one in nine people to be blessed, though most would see it as a curse. Powers to defend and protect even though you bear the life of loneliness," I said blushing, "Sorry that was too emo...let me start over. I am Kori, this is Yuki my sis, and Tanzo is over there. We are nin from Konoha and Yuki and I lost our memories but are slowly getting them back."

"They are a strange pair," said Gaara walking over to me and taking the statue, "You made this?"

"Yeah, from memory," I said, "Though we haven't met, I know you and what you can do. I guess it comes with appearing out of nowhere."

"Temari and Kankuro are carved here too," he said.

"I know you didn't like them before and you are trying your best to get along with them now, but I carved this to show that you belong together as a family. It might have been broken but because of one crazy idiot I know, it is being fixed," I mumbled.

"Thank you," he said.

"Can I hug you? Once?" I asked.

"Why?" he said taken back by my lack of fear.

I moved slowly and got up and walked over to him, showing him and anyone else around, that I wasn't going to attack. When I was able to grab him I pulled him into a hug and quickly let go. I knew he wasn't used to things like this and was afraid I would startle him. With my hug Garra plan complete I fell back on the ground smiling. I looked up at the stunned Gaara and giggled.

"Surprising when you find out people don't fear you," I said, "I know the feeling. So what is there to do around here?"

Tsunade appeared behind me and jerked me up so I was off the ground looking her in the eye. I gulped. I knew what was coming and tried to brace for impact and still look at her.

"I told you not-" she started yelling.

"It is fine," Garra interrupted.

"Smack me, I think I died," I said shocked.

"If she does you may really die," said Yuki before she hugged Gaara herself and saved me from Tsunade.

"Point taken," I said, "So what are you two doing here?"

"Welcoming the genin who passed the second exam," said Tsunade.

"Well this hasn't ever happened before, I was expecting something else. I will take it though, I also sense an ulterior motive here," I told Tsunade.

"I wanted to introduce you two to Gaara. He seemed intrigued about you two when I told him what you can do," said Tsunade.

"Cool so being a freak of nature pays off," I said giggling.

To my surprise Tsunade put me down and then they both began to disappear. Well it wasn't Gaara in the flesh but I hugged his Iron Sand and wasn't killed so that was a good thing. Before they officially were gone, they told us we had to stay here for the remainder of the test. Which wasn't bad. There was food and water nearby and the high walls kept it kinda cool inside the oasis. We waited until the test was over and including us, four other teams passed. Our next task was the sparring competition that would be held a month later. We knew we had to prepare ourselves and we were given some time off to train. Well we were happy that we passed two out of three parts of the Exam but we had to stay in Suna until the exam was over. So we were bummed out about that.

**One month later**

We were in the Suna Stadium for the remainder of the exams. Both Yuki and I were excited and a little afraid at the same time. There was a small chance that we would be paired up to face one another. Neither of us wanted to fight but we were not going to throw in the towel just because we had to. So we promised one another no matter what happens that we would try our best. The first round went to a nin from Suna and one from Kumogakure. Yuki and I watched for a little while before we went back and focused on working on our abilities. Preparing the ones we needed too. The next line up was me against Sedan, who was from Kirigakure. Yuki wished me good luck as I headed down to the sparring area.

The jonin who was observing us, and to step in if things got too out of hand told us to get ready. Sedan took out one kunai and then I took out a simple brush filled with pigment. I could now bind targets longer but it would last long, my brushing skills also were fast but I had to fake out that the actual brush in my hand allowed me to use my jutsu. Hopefully my opponent would use water release, short cutting my abilities. If I could use thier water, I could make their jutsu my own, well if they used a smaller one. Larger ones were more difficult, there was a mass amount of water that could be thrown at me.

Sedan had dark red hair that extended past his shoulders. Dark eyes, that could either be blue or brown, I wasn't close enough to be able to tell. A black undershirt with a red overcoat that was kept open in the front, extended to his ankles, and had cut off sleeves. His pants were white and slightly baggy but then fit snugly around his ankles, having excess material covering his shoes. His shoes were either boots or high fitting shoes and were a black and another light color, but the light was reflecting blindly off them so I couldn't tell. Sedan didn't give me much choice when he rapidly preformed three hand seals.

"Suiton: Suiben!" he called as the water whip began to bind my arms.

"Is that your element?" I asked as he raced toward me.

"Yes," he said jumping into the air.

"Sorry," I apologized as I flicked my wrist and stuck the brush into the water.

The water whip became a bright yellow as the pigment, charged with my chakra, was injected into the jutsu. I hopped out of the way as he landed. He smirked and jerked on the newly colored whip, but was surprised when it failed to knock me off my feet. Manipulating the pigment I formed a small hole for my arm to fit through as I mirrored him and jerked him forward. Using the pigment to force his end to wrap itself around his wrist. As he came toward me, he twisted in the air so that he had a clear shot at cutting me with his kunai. Seeing as it was now aimed at my throat, I leaned to my left to avoid being cut. Freeing myself from the previous jutsu and gathering around my hands I used it as gloves for the time being as I blocked a stab.

"Impression Art: Yellow Sting!" I said as I grabbed his hand.

I then used it to gain momentum as I thrust my left hand forward and caused the left glove to explode. I followed this up with a swift knee to his abdomen to bend him over so I could climb up his body. As I neared his shoulders with my feet, he grabbed me and used his kunai to stab at my calf. I placed the brush in my mouth as I preformed a back bend, nearly flipping over as I caught his hand. This left me in an awkward position. He used my imbalance to toss me to the side as he began to regain his sight back. I caught myself and turned so that I would land on my feet. As I landed I couldn't do much but dodge out of the way.

"Suiton: Mizurappa!" said Sedan aiming for me.

He exhaled a large jet stream of water and I was forced to dodge around for a while before he stopped the jutsu. I had to keep Sedan from preforming any other hand seals. So I rushed up to him, dipping the brush once more into the water I still had. This time the pigments were changed into a orange. I could use this pigment to create bindings, but I had to be close enough to touch the person before I could lay the trap. As I closed the distance between us he began to form hand seals. I jumped forward and used my hand still covered in my ink to begin to bind him in chains. He smiled as the air became misty.

"Sensatsu Suishō," he calmly said.

"Oh fuck," I said mentally slapping myself.

Thousands of needles were surrounding us, quickly I added another pigment to turn the hue of the chains into violet. The needles shot forward as the water I was using congealed and began to surround me. I remembered this jutsu from a long time ago, used by Haku. I grabbed Sedan and used him as a meat shield as I grabbed his shirt at the shoulders, throwing my legs between his, and kicking out to knock him off balance and on top of me. Some of the needles stuck into the jelly like armor that would help me escape the damage, but others were faster than my congealed shield would move and I was painfully stuck with the needles.

"Impression Art: Violet Snare," I said while trying to trap Sedan with me.

As I got up, Sedan was laughing while he began to melt. Revealing that I was fighting a water clone the entire time. Picking out the long objects, I searched around visually for my opponent. Suddenly a thick mist began to appear. _Little cheap shotting bastard, oh when I get my friggin hands on you..._I said now reaching out with my Impression Jutsu. Two could play at this game, and I removed some of the pigment to turn the congealed substance indigo. Covering myself, but allowing me to breathe, I began to use different pigments to mirror the area around me as I waited for Sedan to show himself. I couldn't do this for long, since this ability ate away at my chakra at a terrible rate and couldn't be used in a long term fight.

I waited in the thick mist, multi tasking with this justu was very hard, even with me being able to control chakra well. Blending in with surrounding was difficult. I slowly got to the ground and began crawling towards where I suspected Sedan to be. Thankfully I was correct but there wasn't a for sure way to tell if it was really Sedan without me blowing my cover. I had to take the chance, I was going to run out of chakra at this rate. I used my Impression Jutsu to read the thoughts of this person and found it was really him, so jumping out of my cover I took the pigment away from the water and let the Chameleon Shroud form back into normal water. I then used my brush to begin to 'paint' something in the air. Sedan took the bait and used his kunai to knock my brush out of my hand, cutting it in the process. I acted stunned.

"Can't use your silly art tricks now?" he said producing more shuriken and kunai.

He then tossed them in rapid succession at me. I barley had time to escape them. Landing, there were visible cuts bleeding from me as I slumped to the ground. Sedan smiled as he went over to finish me off and came close enough for me to end my facade. I jumped up from my slumped position and I tackled him. Gathering my chakra I concentrated.

"Impression Art: Bloody Scene," I said as a ball of crimson formed in my hand.

Touching Sedan, I was able to stop him by pushing a false scene of him being cut rapidly. While concentrating I quickly used the red orb to cover him in the same marks I forced into his head. Keeping him in the image I quickly mimicked the wounds he was receiving, aside from the headache I did a good job, even using a kunai to cut his clothing. After finishing I jumped back and allowed him to come out of the living nightmare I put him in. Hell even Itachi wasn't this good...okay maybe Itachi was better, but I could work at it. After watching him slowly get up, he looked down and saw he was really covered in wounds. Trying not to freak out, he lunged at me. I made sure to try and impede his movements by impersonating gashes along his legs, and arms. He winced as my blood crystals bore into his skin, causing him pain. Hopefully Sedan wasn't much of a 'hey wait a minute' types. As he lunged I quickly sidestepped out of the way and used my fists to hit him on the back of his neck, knocking him out.

"And that is how you paint with all the colors of the wind, bitch," I happily smiled as I was announced the winner.

I had used too much of my imperfected jutsu and had a small nosebleed from the mental stress. Before leaving I removed the pigment and stored it into its container before stopping all the containers in my box for them and closing it. I then went up to a very pissed off Yuki who reminded me that I could have injured myself.

"Headache...go away," I grumbled.

"You are lucky that is all you have, go make sure you aren't more brain damaged than usual," she said.

"Fine," I scoffed heading to be treated in the infirmary.

While being treated I heard another match being called.

**Yuki's POV**

It was my turn next, I had to face a ninja from Iwagakure. He didn't seem to threatening, though the closer I got to it, I realized that was one strong looking girl. It wasn't anything I couldn't handle though. All i had to do was avoid her. The girl immediately began a jutsu that would make it more difficult for me to hit her.

"Doton: Kōka Jutsu!" she said as her skin began getting a rocky appearance.

Biting my lip, I knew that this would be bad if she hit me. Nothing puts a damper in one's mood like being hit with solid rock by a chick who looks like she could bench press a boulder. I wasn't at a great disadvantage, but I wasn't at a good advantage either. I would have to avoid her for the time being, until I had gathered enough chakra to help me bust through her defenses. The girl came after me and began to try and use her taijutsu to disable me. Lucky for me, I had to put up with Kori and her ridiculous ability to mix colors in her Impression Jutsu and use them, so needless to say I was able to dodge out of the way. After a few punches she tried to smash me with both her hands and when I jumped into the air, she used the growing capability of the jutsu to try and pierce me with spikes. Changing my angle in the air, I carefully dodged the spikes, though my clothing was ripped.

A few more minutes passed with me doing nothing but dodging her attacks. Converting everything to 'her level' was a pain in the neck. Though I had gotten faster with it, and hopefully after some more practice could do this instantly, but for now I would have to make due. When everything was ready, she was already in the middle of taunting me.

"What is a matter? Can't do anything but dodge?" she laughed.

"Not really but your IQ is so low that I had to lower the bar a wee bit into nothing but single notes on a line instead of the usual stuff. Really now, if I were you I would stay under that rock you crawled out of...Your impressions and thoughts are nothing but 'smash' and 'kill', it is amazing that you can do anything other than breathe. It does make me curious how you breathe and walk at the same time," I said back to her.

"Why you little!" she huffed as she charged me.

_A few more paces...there!_ I thought to myself as I prepared my jutsus.

"Piercing Melody!" I said before shrieking at her, sending my voice aimed to clear some of the rock away.

I used the treads of sound that I created to wrap around her head so that I could shatter her defenses, and hopefully clear a good space so her ears would be vulnerable. The girl thought I pierced her armor with the gale and backed off while using longer ranged Earth Release attacks on me. Concentrating, I focused on her and began to try and make out what she was feeling using my Heartsong. I blanced a little, she had more stubbornness than Kori, her self loving confidence was nauseating, and she did believe she was smarter than me. Though range wouldn't help her at this point. Looking a bit deeper there was a spark of something. I felt it before, this girl loved someone.

"Who is he?" I asked still listening to her heart.

"What are you talking about worm?" she asked preparing a new jutsu.

"That won't help, but I might make you feel better," I sighed as I began to sing.

Using chakra I began to weave her illusion. She watched as she and her loved one were roaming the streets outside of Iwagakure trying to make a living. One day when they were both found they were caught by Killer B, stealing from him. They spent the whole day in prision waiting on their sentence to be carried out. That night Killer B told them that if they became nin, they would be pardoned. Though it was ironic that they were already set free, I guess it was thier hearts that were still caged.

"_Prison gates won't open up for me_

_On these hands and knees I'm crawlin'_

_Oh, I reach for you_

_Well I'm terrified of these four walls_

_These iron bars can't hold my soul in_

_All I need is you..._

_Show me what it's like_

_To be the last one standing_

_And teach me wrong from right_

_And I'll show you what I can be..."_

As I kept singing I made my way closer to her so that I could wait for her to stop focusing chakra. When I was withing arms reach her armor fell off as she was captured in the genjutsu melody. When I knew it was safe enough to approach her, I used one of the rocks and knocked her out. When the match was over I went to check on Kori who had missed the entire thing. The next pair was a Kiri nin and a Kumo nin. After leaving the grounds, I rounded the corner to the hall that lead to the small infirmary that they held there, and bumped into Kori.

"Aw it is already over," she pouted.

"Well if you didn't use so much of the new justu you invented then this wouldn't have been an issue. So what did they say?" I asked her.

"Nothing, they said the heat must have gotten to me," she shrugged, "I am A-Okay!"

I hit her over the head, "Baka."

We returned to the matches to find that the previous match was over and Tanzo and a villager from Suna were fighting. The fight lasted much longer than either one of ours, but Tanzo didn't have any special tricks up his sleeve. Thankfully he came out on top, though he was injured pretty badly from the Suna nin causing some of his fireballs to ignite in his face. The rest of the Chunin Exams were pretty boring and I had to keep Kori from terrorizing the other people with her 'stage paint' as she called it. Only thing I called it was creepy, making yourself look like a zombie while chasing down people wasn't right, amusing but not right. When the Exams were over we awaited our news of whether we were Chunin or not.

Tsunade had us all meet up with Kakashi, who escorted us to the Kazekage's Offices, where all the Daimyo, Tsunade, and Gaara were. We were more or less pushed in, much to Kori's complaints. I quickly shot her a glare that silenced her, hopefully for the remainder of our time here.

"Here they are," said Kakashi before turning around and walking out the door.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Kori acting the 'abandoned puppy' and sort of whimpering at the door. Though she kept mostly silent, I still sighed. Feeling other people wasn't the best of things all the time. She was afraid of failing or worse being jailed. Thankfully only Tsunade knew of our other 'gifts'.

"We called you here to give you the news about your Exams. Carefully going over all three sections of the test, you three were able to overcome most the challenges, with minimal effort. I was also told that it took you only a day and a half to reach the oasis," said Suna's Daimyo.

"Er, thas-right," said a very shaky Kori, who was hiding behind me.

"Kori and Yuki of Konohagakure, you two have abilities that none of us can quite trace," said another, "There could be some similarities between what is know and your abilities, but it seems that you two are the ones that are brought up most often."

"It is a tough choice, they could easily cause the Five Great Nations lots of trouble if they were hired by teh wrong sort," said another.

I then took hold of Kori into a head lock, whispering threats of tons of pain if she spoke, and covered her mouth. I knew she was about to say something stupid if I had let her. Though I couldn't help feeling a bit disheartened by this whole thing. Even the look on Tsunade's face was slightly grim. As they whispered to themselves they finally decided to end the agony.

"We are now declaring you three Chunin of Konoha," said one.

"Or ooo fffin eerious!" yelled Kori behind my hand.

I smiled and began hugging the life out of Kori in joy of our new positions. Tsunade called us over to speak privately, along with Gaara. She explained that they Daimyos were reluctant to give us a chance because of our abilities being so unusual and the fact that Kori and I had no background. Now with Gaara in the loop of our other abilities, we had to be expecially careful. Though it did help with the Suna-Konoha Relations, that Garra was in the loop, there was a bad feeling I kept having in the back of my mind. Pushing it aside, we decided to celebrate with Gaara, and his siblings if they could attend, Tsunade, Kakashi and a few people we met here in Suna. After everyone was told whether they passed or not, we all decided to have barbecue and congratulate everyone. Mostly everyone who had to put up with Kori and her pranks for the past month. When the party was over and Kori finally 'cuted out' we fell asleep and woke up the next morning to begin our journey home as Chunin.

* * *

Sandstone has a hardness on the Mohs scale of 6.5-7, which is harder than unrefined titanium, scales as a 6, (Ironic that glass is in the 6.5 area) but softer than hardend steel.

I am not exactly sure when Gaara was born (I know the day and month but not the year). I just subracted his age from my age and got 1994 (don't ask that is how I do it) for his birth year. I am unsure if this is correct since they just give the ages and no specific year to the character's birth.

Garra was using his sand to imitate Tsunade and himself...he can because I say he can.

Suiton: Suiben- Water Release: Water Whip he user creates a whip made of water that can wrap around the opponent. The user can also funnel lightning chakra to shock anyone wrapped in it. This jutsu seems to be known by the Kirigakure hunter-nin. (Since Kirigakure have an ususually high number of missing nin, it is possible that those training to become hunter-nin would have this ability)

Suiton: Mizurappa- Water Release: Violent Water Wave- Water gushes out from the mouth like a waterfall and washes away the enemy. One can freely control the power of this technique with the amount chakra one releases.

Sensatsu Suishō- Thousand Flying Water Needles of Death - Origionaly used by Haku, the user gathers some water from the air and surrounding environment into one thousand long needles. He then directs them to a specific target at high speed, leaping backwards before impact so he doesn't get caught in the crossfire. While the needles do surround a target from all sides, they don't appear above the target, creating an escape route. Haku (and now Sedan) is able to perform this jutsu with one-handed seals, allowing him to pin an opponent's arm and attack while they cannot use any techniques themselves.

Doton: Kōka Jutsu- Earth Release: Hardening Technique- By utilizing earth-based chakra, the user creates an armour of rock that encases their body. The armour can also be used to create extendable weapons to strike a target with.

* * *

Impression Art: More developed version of Kori's Impression Jutsu. This allows her to use specially charged pigment to change the color of the water she carries. This can even override enemey chakra if they are Water Style. The amount of charged pigment, depends on the strength of the jutsu. She also can change the color for specific needs she has.

Red- can give the appearance of wounds, also bonds with her blood to create small projectiles or temporarily crystallize her blood. Can also be used to trick opponents into thinking they are injured by the tight bonds of the red pigment causing irritation and some pain among enemies by the crystals digging into thier skin.

Yellow- can be used as a debilitation, mostly used for blinding an opponent

Orange- Used to bind opponents, creating any implement used to capture opponents

Green- infused with her healing chakra to quickly stanch bleeding and begin to regenerate minor wounds on the go. Can not be used for internal injuries or broken bones.

Blue- used for melee weapons she sees, she can mimic their appearance though she has to train specifically with the weapon or 'record' the function of the weapon previously with her Impression Jutsu.

Indigo- Used to mimic people but only the last three minutes can be recorded with the image. After the image is played, the person will melt and return to its normal water state. If Kori uses the jutsu as a human shield however, she can impersonate the people while inside, she can also hide and use this as a chamelon shroud.

Violet- Used to create temporary shields, by congealing the water with chakra, she can slow down projectiles and capture opponents when they use taijutsu against her, however it offers a very minor buffer for elemental jutsu.

White- A combination of all the colors, Kori has yet to find the true purpose of this 'color'. (white is the extreme of both 'hue' and 'shade' of the visible spectrum...so yeah you learned something today)

Black-The opposite of white, Kori has yet to find out the purpose of this 'color'. (I know that black is actually a 'shade' and not a color but in fuction it can also be described as so. Otherwise it is just an abosorber of all the spectrum of light.)

Impression Art Techniques:

Yellow Sting- Kori uses her chakra to super charge the pigmentation in the water that she is holding. This will cause the pigment to react and bind together forming sharp crystals. The water will jet out toward the eyes of the opponent and carry the pigment crystals into thier eyes, causing them to become blinded.

Violet Snare- the congealed shield becomes more like a syrup then geletin, allowing Kori to capture her target as she runs into them, protecting herself from various justus that may be in effect.

Chameleon Shroud: The indigo pigments split and take on the form of water that reflects the image that Kori is pressed up against, allowing her to blend into her surroundings. However the image will appear to be reflected through a mirror, and those paying attention can see through the technique if something passes behind her, if she is standing up. If pressed against a wall or the ground, it would be harder to distinguish her from the scene without sensory techniques.

Bloody Scene- Kori uses the red pigment and a mix of her own blood to congeal the pigement, allowing it to take a more blood-like form, and drip onto the victim. Then she uses a reverse version of her Impression Jutsu to push an image of the opponent in a terrible state, unlike regular genjutsu, this can not be broken by a seal or the afflicted to be in pain. By use of will or damage to Kori, will this break. Kori must keep physical contact with ther person to keep replaying or keeping the victim 'watching' the scene she creates. After her pigmented ink has formed where it should be, the victim will still see that he has 'suffered' damage and the brain will react accordingly, even if the damage is minimal. Those with sensory capabilities would be able to notice her chakra covering them and will be less likley to fall under her illusion.

Heartsong Abilities:

Piercing Melody: by converging her Wind element, voice, and chakra. Yuki can sharpen the air that passes through her windpipe. It creates a high pitched sound wave hidden in a gale of wind to pierce the target and damage them. The more chakra used the stronger the effect, it can even be used to pierce armors. However if used in rapid succestion it can cause damage to her vocal cords. The 'threads' of sound can be wrapped around the opponent or used as a small drill or a cutting edge.

The song quoted was Savin' Me by Nickleback.

* * *

Timeline:

Naruto Returns- 1yr 3mo. (it is about the end of October.)

Yuki and Kori arrive in Konoha - 6 mo after Naruto leaves.

Rehab/ private instructors- about three months

Time spent in the academy-about four months

Time spent as Genin- Six months.. or so.

Time Spent as Chunin- 0 mo.

* * *

**Lo: **I have very loyal sock puppets? Mhmm I have never called the creative voices in my head that before...lol.

**Alpenwolf: **No you are not blind, there just wasn't a lot of other characters placed in last chapter, so your cameo wasn't there...Ino was referring to her med nin skills not really the whole go into the hospital, but you never know. Actually writing helps me over come a lot of things...bordem mostly but now it is for another thing..Sorry Alphen, this time you were cast as Sedan. *giggle* And now you look like Zelos Wilder from Tales of Symphony, I wasn't sure if that was your avi...but he looked close to it...forgive me if you don't like T.T* One thing is for sure...Zelos is O.O...kinda hot...I don't care if he is pixles .. (I fixed your name)

**SilverMusic: **Yes I sushi is from the gods...I could eat my weight in it...Mhmm, something tells me Garra is one of your favorite characters...Well I hope you like the meeting I put in here.

* * *

**River: **Okay this chapter is done and you got to see some of the girl's jutsu in action. Though since Yuki is so smart hers, not so much. So now that they are Chunin, we can focus back on the relationship developing...I am not sure if I am going to put it up as the next chapter but I am already working on "Haruko's Return" it is up to you guys if it is next or not. Though I gotta work out the kinks.**  
**


	15. Chapter 15: Haruko's Return

The last thing I remember was going to where the note said. I should have thought about it, but I was so excited that Neji had actually asked me for a date that I didn't question it. I didn't know where I was, I was blindfolded and well the Land of Fire was a big place. However I knew who had me, Haruko. She still hadn't forgiven me for her humiliation at Neji's birthday party. I hope that Yuki would realize I was gone soon, I don't know how much longer I can last.

Haruko had me beaten by some unruly guys and had me bound to a chair so I couldn't move. After the chair broke, they beat me with the pieces. She only stopped when I lost consciousness. It seemed like days I had been locked here, somewhere dark, maybe a underground hide out. After my body was broken, she started in on the Genjutsu and tormented me with images of me dying. When she figured out that didn't work she switched to me being helpless and watching those I care about being hurt.

"Urchin," I heard her say, "This will be the last time your presence stains mine. I could keep you here for days and no one find you."

"Funny," I said coughing up something, maybe blood, "I heard Hiashi wanted to brand you and if it wasn't for the elders you would have been."

She kicked me in my already broken ribs, "Resilient, I suppose you living on the streets gives you some endurance."

"I hope you can find some way to disappear," I said wheezing, "When Yuki finds you, it will be like you never existed."

"So you can still use that mouth," she hissed, "Time for some more screaming."

_"Kori!" yelled Neji," Get out of here."_

_"Stop it," I said fighting the elders, "You are killing him!"_

_"It is no less than what he deserves, the filthy branch member," said one of the elders, "He broke the law and now must pay for it."_

_They activated the Cursed Seal again and I saw Neji writhe in pain and fight not to cry out in agony. It was killing me to know he was in pain and I couldn't stop it. I tried yelling out for Yuki but they laughed and said she was not much of a challenge and was dead. Hiashi, Hinata, and Hanabi were not in much better condition. Hanabi was very ill and the elders used this to divert Hiashi's attentions elsewhere. I cried as they held me down, begging for them to stop, to take it out on me._

_"Foolish girl," said one of them before hitting me across the face, "It is your fault he is here."_

_"Then blame me," I cried, "Anything, ANYTHING but this. Please."  
_

I don't know what was louder, the screams in my head, or the ones echoing off the chambers walls. All the time I kept thinking of why she would do such a thing. That and I kept trying to remember the beginning of this.

-Flashback-

I was bored and was wandering around Konoha, absent minded to my surroundings. Apparently my feet lead me to the Hyuga Compound. It had been a few weeks since I last saw any of the Hyugas. I thought maybe some training could do me some good. I was being lazy when I was not working at the hospital or on missions. Standing in the doorway I knocked on the main houses door. Usually I could find either of them here now a days. Hiashi was quite happy with teaching Neji the ways of the main house, though the elders seemed to disapprove. I was happy with how they ended up. Nothing too close but they got along well enough and spent more time together. Even Hanabi and Hinata were seeing a lot of him, and getting closer. An old servant answered the door.

"May I help you Miss Kori?" she asked.

"Yeah, I was wondering if Hinata, Hanabi, or Neji were around," I said bowing.

"Yes, they are training," she said, "This way."

She lead me down to one of the nearby training grounds and announced my presence to them. Hinata and Hanabi were sparring while Neji and Hiashi were working on some of the family techniques. They all stopped and Hanabi, who I silently knew as my evil apprentice with pranks, came flying at me and hugged me.

"Kori!" she said glomping me.

"Hey Hanabi," I said after getting the wind she knocked out of me back, "How are you?"

"Good," she said before pulling me so she could whisper in my ear, "Neji wants to tell you something, I heard him..."

I blushed as Neji walked over and greeted me, "What did she tell you?"

"Nothing!" I said quickly, "She just told me about the time she put spring loaded snakes in your drawers."

"That was you?" said Neji looking at Hanabi then at me, "I think you are a bad influence on her."

"Well she is more fun," I said laughing nervously, "So um, shoes are great."

I wanted to smack myself, of all things to say I had to be weird. Neji just smiled and that made me blush more before I turned around.

"There is something I want to talk to you about," he said, "Could you meet me at the training grounds south of the main gate. Gai sensei wants us to do something early tomorrow but later in the afternoon we should be finished."

"A-alright," I said trying to sound normal and not spaz out, "I will be there."

After spending time with them I went back home and slept. The next morning I was fighting over stuff to wear, nothing I wore seemed to work. Usually I just threw on what I picked out first, but I wanted to look decent. I opted out my nin gear and went with a long t-shirt, shorts, leggings, and my high tops, about the time Yuki dragged me out of my room, threw them at me, and locked me in the bathroom. After getting dressed I began to make my way toward the training grounds. I was halfway down my street when a member of the Hyuga family ran towards me. I recognized him as Hiraku, one of the branch members and a really nice guy. He was a bit modest and meek, but he was fun to be around and honest.

"Miss Kori!" he panted, "I am here to give you this."

He handed me a piece of paper before disappearing. I opened it up and read: _Gai sensei didn't show up, he had an unexpected mission. I will meet you by the river. Neji._ I shrugged and turned around and headed to the river. I went to the Konoha Memorial, just in case he wanted to meet me there, when I didn't see him I moved farther down river. About halfway down everything went black. I woke up sometime later with myself being strapped to a chair and Haruko laughing as she took off the blind fold.

"Oh if it isn't the urchin," she giggled, "What a nice suprise."

There were four other shadows in the room and I strained to see them.

"Oh how rude of me, this is Kouki, Youta, Hikari, and Mitsuko. Like me they think you should disappear," she said before slapping me across the face.

"Ow," I said, "Well if you had of told me there was a party in my honor, then I would have came willingly."

She hit me again, "Shut up urchin! You should only speak when spoken too. You don't even have the right to do anything."

"I have free will bitch," I spat at her, "And I will do whatever I damn well please."

She hit some of my chakra points and caused me to throw up. After that she gripped me harshly by the neck.

"I don't think so," she said, "After your little incident making me look bad, I was confined to my room for weeks. Hiashi wanted to brand me. Me! His own cousin! First born from my parents, and if it wasn't for his grandfather being older, I would have been Head."

"Sucks to be you doesn't it," I chuckled.

"Now I am going to make this very clear. You are going to stay away from my family, and stop trying to influence Lord Hiashi from taking pity on Neji."

"First off, I didn't influence that. Hiashi loves Neji, get over it. Two, you are such a self loathing hypocritical-" I started to say before she hit me again.

"What was that?" she said, "I don't think I heard you."

"When I get out of this, I am beating you senseless," I growled.

"I don't think so," she said, "While YOU don't bear the mark of an unwanted one, I can still punish you. When I am finished you won't even want to think about going near my family again."

About halfway through the first beatings, closing off my chakra points to prevent me from using any jutsu, Hikari and Youta spoke up about being cruel. They were shortly put in their place by threats of them joining me. The harder she tried the more I laughed. It didn't last long. She brought in two really big rough looking men that she hired to torture me. The very first thing she had them do was break my jaw, to keep me silent. then they tied my hands together and nailed bamboo splinters in them. Small ones at first and then larger ones, and when my hands couldn't hold anymore they went up to my wrists and lower arms. Then they took small pieces of metal and glass to make shallow cuts in my body, not enough to bleed very well but enough to cause me pain. Then they started breaking small bones and moving up to larger ones. The bones were broken in such a way that they would splinter, but keep my frame intact, if only by a thin stip of bone, and the bruises I could live through. After a few rounds even the other two who hadn't spoken out were telling her to stop. I guess she was mad or something, that only made her do more things.

-End Flashback-

**Yuki's POV**

After Kori left I was happy for her. Though I was stuck with cleaning up her room. She seemed rather excited about something involving Neji. After a few hours Shikamaru came by and I helped him, and forced him to work on, his papers that he had for the Academy. Five rolled around and there was a knock on the door. I opened it to find Neji there.

"Where is Kori?" I asked.

"I was hoping you could tell me," he said, "She didn't show up today. I thought she was mad at me for something. I have been asking everyone if they had seen her, and they all said she was at home."

"Oh god," I gasped, "Shikamaru, go tell Tsunade Kori is gone! Neji come with me. Stupid...I should have went with her."

"Calm down," said Shikamaru.

"No Kori isn't the type to take random vacations and drop off the radar without letting someone know. She is in trouble I know she is," I said running out the door.

**Kori's POV**

"I think she might be dead," I could barely hear who I identified as Hikari say, "Haruko you went too far this time."

"We only wanted her to learn her lesson, not be tortured to death," said one of the boys.

"Shut up all of you!" said Haruko, "Or you will join her."

I wanted to tell her to leave them alone but I could only concentrate on breathing. Everything hurt. I heard some mumbles and screams from the others before I blacked out. I woke up somewhere in the forest tied to a tree, Haruko whispering things she would do to Neji after she left me there to die. I pretended to still be passed out and bit back tensing up and pain when she stabbed me with a kunai, to probably finish the job. When she left I focused on getting out of the bindings. The blood running to my ankles helped me slide out of the rope keeping my body outstretched. I fought as hard as I could before the sweat or blood allowed me to slip out of the rope that kept my hands above my head. I hit the ground and began crawling forward. I was pretty sure I didn't make very good distance, with me bleeding out. I at least was able to find some roots to stop the bleeding and soak up the blood, and was lucky to find some herbs to treat my wounds. I found myself in soft earth, tilled, that meant that there was someone close by. I couldn't see very well but it felt like they were preparing a garden or just finished harvesting. All my strength left me and I really felt like I was going to die, this time permanently.

Thankfully I managed to pull through. I woke up a week later in a small village a few days away from Konoha. They hadn't taken me far but this place was so small, not many people knew about it. I was lucky that a traveling doctor was nearby and treated me. They wondered about me for days and even the doctor said it was a miracle I didn't die because of all the blood I lost. They had sent a message to Konoha, asking for a team to retrieve me. The doctor had already left and I was still in bad shape. The bones had set funny and I wouldn't be able to walk ever again if they were not reset properly. The old man told me that it would be a few more days before Konoha would be able to send anyone out. They were scrambling to find a missing nin from their village.

**Yuki's POV**

It had been days since Kori disappeared. Rumors of her leaving the village like Sasuke did were going around. Others said she ran off with someone else, some said she was into questionable things, and the worst ones were of her dead. I was beside myself with worry, and if it wasn't for Tsunade and the others help, I probably would have been in the deep end of crazy. She couldn't send out full search parties for her, since no one was allowed to know how important she was, but she did send out messages for teams on missions to keep a lookout for her. Every night I waited until I passed out for someone to tell me something anything. Even Shikamaru had to force me to go to sleep. Tsunade had me placed on the 'crazy watch' since I was losing so much sleep and wasn't eating. I didn't know whether to mourn, hope, or what.

It didn't help matters that there were reports, that I 'found out' about of girls that were similar to her being found. Some were too young, some too old, some too dead, and I couldn't take it. I was locked in the village since Tsunade didn't want another incident like Sasuke's to happen all over again. One night Tsunade called me to her office.

"Sit down," she said, "Get some rest, you are killing yourself. I can't sit by and watch you do this while I am doing what I can to get her back."

"That isn't good enough," I yelled.

"Don't get smart with me," said Tsunade almost breaking the desk," You are instructed to go home and get some rest."

Tsunade then had Kakashi of all people to take me home and made sure that I didn't leave.

**Kori's POV**

I was woken to someone moving me. I still hurt and I couldn't open my eyes to see where I was going. For all I knew I was kidnapped again and was being dragged away from home. I barely had the energy to stay awake, let alone speak. There was an odd sense of familiarity with them, and I was calmed by a sense of something I could not put my finger on. I heard a few things of them trying to make sure I was still alive, apparently the days I spent with Haruko were not kind. They couldn't tell who I was. Sometime while moving I passed out again and I woke up sometime later in a familiar hospital. I was home, but was very heavily medicated because of the damage that was done to me. A few more days passed, and some surgeries to help repair the damage, I was able to speak again. Sakura was there and she was changing my bandages when I grabbed her wrist.

"Yuki," I strained out.

Her eyes widened and she ordered someone else to finish changing my bandages while she went to Tsunade. What seemed like forever later, Tsunade appeared in my doorway and rushed over to me.

"Are you sure that is what she said?" said Tsunade.

"Yes," I weakly replied, "Yuki. Need her. Safe."

"She is safe," said Tsunade, "Who did this to you?"

I turned away. Part of me wanted Haruko to get what she deserved but I didn't want something to happen while I was still in the hospital. I shook my head and Tsunade didn't press it, but she told me that whoever did this severely damaged my chakra points and nearly broke all my bones. I was lucky that I was able to find help, but some infection set in and they were having trouble killing it with my system being so weak. Everyday I had chakra and blood transfusions to help my body heal but she told me the damage was almost as bad as Rock Lee. The news was bad but Lee also was able to stay a ninja, so there was hope. She also said that it would be a few days before she would allow anyone to see me but she would inform everyone that I was alright, well still alive anyway.

**Yuki's POV**

There was a knock at my door, but I wasn't allowed to answer it. Kakashi had made sure I wasn't able to move from the couch. Kakashi bowed and let the person in. Ino was there smiling as she walked towards me.

"We found her, she is alive, but she sustained some injuries and has to be in the hospital for now," she said, "Tsunade ordered me to tell you that and you can't see her for another day or two. She was in critical condition when we found her."

I broke down and cried. She was alive at least. I could wait another day to see her, but not another day longer. She was missing for weeks.

The day came around and I was able to see her. She was still being given chakra injections to speed up her healing but most of the lighter wounds were healed and they said that she could finally stay awake long enough to receive visits. When I entered her room she was covered in bandages smiling at me. Her face was still badly bruised in angry purples and blacks.

"Hey," she said.

"What happened?" I asked.

"Nothing I couldn't handle," she tried to laugh but hissed when her ribs hurt.

"They said you came back half dead," I said walking over to her.

"Fine I went on a date with a grizzly bear," she said, "They don't like humans flirting with them."

"That is enough!" I snapped, "Who did this?"

She stopped talking and looked out the window of her room. After a few minutes of trying to get her to talk I began yelling at her.

"Fine if that is how you are going to be then you can stay here for all I care!" I yelled storming out.

**Kori's POV**

After she stormed out I felt a little bad, but I knew what would happen if I told her. Everyone that was even remotely involved would disappear. It still hurt to move but I was tired of being in bed so I slowly turned by body around so I could hang my feet off the edge of the bed. I heard a knock at my door and found Kiba along with Hinata there. I smiled and motioned them in.

"Sorry I look like hell," I said smiling.

"I bet those that did this look worse," said Kiba, "So why did Yuki storm out?"

"K-kiba!" said Hinata.

"It is alright," I told them, "She is trying to get me to talk but I don't want to start pointing fingers. Yuki isn't the kind of person you should cross."

"Does anyone know about what happened?" asked Hinata softly.

"No, I am not talking to anyone, at least not for now. I know what will happen if I do," I said looking down, "I don't want that. As long as I am stuck in this hole then I can't do anything about it."

"Revenge isn't the best thing," Kiba started to say.

"I am not looking for it," I cut him off, "If anything I want what is right, but it is a lose-lose situation. If I say anything I lose, if I don't say anything I still lose. I don't know how I feel about this right now."

"Pretty shitty by what I see," smirked Kiba.

"Down boy. I may be bed ridden but I can still torment you," I grinned.

"Well at lest they didn't take away your sense of humor," said Kiba.

"Yeah," I sighed, "Well...Hinata, how is Neji? I hope he didn't blame himself."

"I haven't seen him much since you disappeared," she said, "He seems a bit more distant though. Only when my father is training him was I able to see him. He wouldn't talk much about it, so I guess he may."

"If it is anyone's fault, it is mine. I should have known better. Could you ask him to stop by, that way I can tell him it isn't his fault. I don't care if he hates me or not now, but he needs to know..'ya know?" I said.

"He won't be back until tomorrow, but I will give him the message," said Hinata, "Kiba and I have to go, we are supposed to meet sensei and Shino for a mission. I will see you later."

"Bye. Hey if Kiba gives you any trouble, swat him with a newspaper," I said giggling.

"At least I don't look like something the cat dragged in," replied Kiba.

"Better a cat than a dog," I said, not missing a beat.

"Dogs are smarter," he called while leaving the door.

I smiled, at least some things don't change. A few other visitors came and saw me including Shikamaru, who I teased about avoiding Yuki.

"Girlfriend trouble?" I asked when he appeared in the doorway.

"She isn't my girlfriend," he sighed.

"Sorry you have been on the receiving end of her crazy," I told him.

"You have no idea," he said sitting down.

"Well if you can deal with her, I already like you. Now hurry up and ask her out already!" I said wincing at the pain when I laughed.

"Honestly I don't know who is worse," he said, "You or her."

"Defiantly me. She doesn't get kidnapped and beat to hell, but I will deal with it. So do you like her?" I said looking up at him cutely, "And don't lie. I can tell."

He blushed, "That is none of your concern."

"If you haven't asked her out by the time I can leave this bed, I will hobble and beat you with a stick," I teased.

"So it is your fault she is so upset," he narrowed his eyes.

"Ah, Shikamaru got the feelings of avoiding the storm. Smart man," I said shifting back into a laying position.

"I am actually here for another reason," he said, "They wanted me to ask you about what happened. The initial report said that you had a lot of internal damage, and that most of your chakra points were closed off."

"I said I wasn't talking," I said crossing my bandaged arms, "At least not yet. I am torn between what is expected and what is right."

"Then what do you think is right?" he asked.

"Probably the wrong choice in the matter," I huffed, "If that is all you are here for then go away. Whether the assumptions in your head already, with the facts at hand or correct or not, I am not going to tell you true or false. There is something I want to do first."

"You know it may only get worse," he said.

"Not really, there are guards posted outside and inside. I know Tsunade has taken precautions. She is worried about another village being involved," I told him, "Don't worry about it. I know you want this matter cleared up, despite your relaxed nature. When I feel the time is right, I will tell you what happened. Until then, I will make sure to do everything that is necessary to keep this my secret."

"I don't understand why you are like this," he said shaking his head.

"A broken heart I suppose. Not mine, but...It is nothing," I said before looking outside, "Tell Yuki I am sorry. I doubt she will see me for a while. She isn't so quick to forgive my stupidity this time around."

"You want me to visit the lion's den?" he asked.

"No, I am asking you to, okay you have a point. It may not be now, but make sure she gets the message," I said yawning, "Crap, sleepy heal time has kicked in. I will hopefully see you soon."

The next day passed quietly. Some people like Lee came to 'inspire' me but thankfully Sakura chased him out. I was still waiting to apologize to Neji. It was my fault he was like this. Blaming myself would become harder to talk to him, but I knew it was what was right. I still felt as guilty as the first day. Two more days passed before Neji had came by to visit. He was about to leave when I woke up from my nap.

"Hey," I said, "Don't leave."

He turned around slowly, "You are a mess."

"You should have seen me when they first brought me here," I tried to joke.

"My team was the one who found you," he said walking towards the bed, "What happened?"

"I am sorry," I said immediately, "I should have known better than to believe a stupid lie! Don't blame yourself for my mistake and I wish I could take it back."

Sobbing because I had let my emotions get the better of me, Neji placed his hand on my arm.

"Blame you? How could I?" he asked.

"Because the day I disappeared, someone told me you weren't there," I said trying to push down the feelings.

"Who?" he asked, half angry half pleading.

"Promise me something," I told him, "That you won't try and look into anything."

"I can't," he said.

"Then I can't tell you. Sorry if you hate me for this, I don't blame you. I would be angry and might hate you if something like this happened," I said looking at him.

"How can I hate you," he said biting his lip, "I tried to get angry, anything! All I could think about was you coming home to where you belong. Then when you didn't come back, I immersed myself in anything I could find but something kept eating away at me. It wasn't guilt, but my chest tightened every time something reminded me of you. I was worried, just like the rest of your friends, but something kept telling me that you were alive and hurt. Sometimes I would lay awake thinking of some horrible thing you had been put through. Then one day Tsunade asked us to retrieve a message from a nearby village, then we found you. When you looked broken and barley alive, I couldn't stand it. I wanted to take your place instead of hunting down those who did it to you. I think. I think what I am trying to say is that I like you a lot and I care about you."

"Of course you do, you are my friend," I smiled, hoping he was going to correct me.

"I think I may care about you as more than a friend. I might be going insane but last time I saw you with Kiba and he hugged you I wanted to punch him," said Neji blushing.

"I thought this might be the case," I said smiling brighter and laughing, not caring about the pain, "I thought I was crazy when I felt about you the same way. I don't know if it is anymore than puppy, er wrong term, hero- no that isn't it. A crush? I really have liked you from the moment I saw you. Forgive the use of the word, but I thought you were the most beautiful thing I had laid eyes on. I knew that you were a bit...hard to understand but I wanted to. Get to know everything there is, other than the instant knowledge I get when I look at someone."

"I see," he said, "Then it would be alright if I do this."

I wanted to ask what it was he wanted to do but the next moment I was in his arms. He was holding me gently, probably afraid I would break again. I wanted to cry because as soon as I touched him, my mind accidentally touched his and I saw what he thought of me. It wasn't me as a physical appearance but it was beautiful. On one side a storm was nearing, threatening to destroy a beautiful field of flowers. The moon shone on the other side, appearing as if it kept the storm at bay. In the middle of this field was a beautiful tree, the extraordinary thing about it other than the deep color of the leaves were tiny blossoms starting to bud and a little bird's nest on a high branch. Even at the dark landscape the moon colored the area with its pale light, hints of blues, purples, whites, and reds could be seen. I couldn't tell exactly which one I was, but I still couldn't believe it.

"I must apologize again," I said to him, "It would seem my state has caused me to 'touch' you. That image was very beautiful. I would like to see it in the day sometime. Is that what you think of me?"

"Yes," he said backing away crimson.

"Then here," I said bringing my hand towards his forehead, "Don't worry, it is what I think of you."

I pushed my 'painting' into his mind. It was a dense forest, evergreens and deciduous trees created a thick canopy. Some rays of light could be seen filtered through them, illuminating a path that lead to a cliff nearby that would show a sunset. Birds sang on the branches and a small creek was flowing through the forest, giving the trees their life and unusual colors. Some of the trees bared flowers that were not supposed to be there like lillies and orchids, and the cherry, pear, peach, and dogwoods were oddly colored. Oranges, yellows, reds, pinks, blues, and indigos decorated the petals. Though it seemed impossible that it was sunset, yet the light filtered through the canopy at just the right angle to illuminate the beautiful flowers. After showing him the scene I backed my hand away from him and was exhausted because my chakra was still pretty low.

"Colorful, since when are cherry blossoms blue?" he asked.

"When you made them that way," I replied, "It doesn't have to be perfectly realistic. For all you know a pink spotted Unicorn with white lillied wings could live there."

"A unicorn?" he asked.

"It is a beast of legend where I am from. It is a horse, usually a pure white with or without wings. Sometimes you can find them in all colors, but the unusual things about them are the single pearlecent or golden horn the the middle of their heads. They usually only show themselves to pure hearted maidens, but sometimes you can stumble upon them," I told him.

"Have you seen one?" he asked.

"Only in pictures, and stories," I replied, "I have never seen a pink spotted one though."

"When will you be out?" he asked.

"Another day," I told him, "They want to get me to the physical terrorist as soon as possible. I think Tsunade is trying to 'heal' me into submission. I have already started though. Tsunade said it might be another week before my chakra points are well enough to start preforming ninjutsu and it will take months to build my strength back up. I told her about a years worth of work could be done in a few months. That is if I can get a handle on things."

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"I know a secret, it is called follow the idiot once this time!" I smiled, "I remember Naruto doing stuff with shadow clones. If I can manage to hold one, I can do both at the same time."

"I think I am starting to see reason with your sister," he said raising an eyebrow.

"Hey if it works, it works. If it don't then I am stuck here for months. Just think at all the chaos I can come up with in, oh ten months time," I said grinning.

He paled, "On second thought."

"Change of heart, accepted," I winked.

"Great I have confessed to an evil ninja hell bent on causing chaos and disorder," sighed Neji, "If you become stronger..."

"Don't worry ruling the world is not on my agenda. Too much work, and I would get bored," I said, "I think my brand of chaos is better suited on the low scale of things."

"Thank Kami," said Neji, "I hope for the best and wish you.."

"If well comes out of your mouth," I said grabbing my pillow, "I will toss this at you, miss, force you to bring it back, and beat you with it."

"Luck," he said.

"Dammit!" I said biting the pillow, "Loop hole."

"Take care," he said before turning around.

"Neji," I called to him, "Now that I know you really like me, I expect you to see me once in a while. At least once a week, assuming you are not on long missions. So you can tell me stories of your adventures."

He laughed before agreeing to it and leaving. Well something was going to motivate me to get better faster. I had to walk to be able to date Neji. Asking him out now would be too soon. I still had another one of his family members to deal with. I sighed to myself. I couldn't put it off any longer. Now that I knew Neji didn't hate me, it was time to try and practice the speech I would have to tell Hiashi.

* * *

**Alpenwolf: **Sorry I typoed your name! You looking like Zelos atm...I don't know if you like that idea or didn't. *puts on big puppy eyes and looks cute* O.O don't hurt me (p.s. Could have made you look like Keifka from Final Fantasy IV, or Kujo, Final Fantasy IX...lol)...Yes I like the skill that Sai has but I didn't want to carbon copy it. Actually their jutsu's are a mix between stuff that I found cool in the actual anime/manga and then some stuff I came up with myself. I like the mix...tehehehe. Plus you gotta understand they have a 'touch' of being phsycic with the abilities. I am also glad that you liked the meeting with Kori, Yuki, and Gaara. The desert test was kinda funny, though I skimmed over the fighting bit until the end. Hopefully I can get some more of Yuki's abilities worked into the story.

**SilverMusic: **Thanks, you are making me blush. Music helps me write sometimes, and I will get inspiration sometimes when listening to it. I listen to a lot of different types, Linkin Park, Three Days Grace, Good Charlotte, Disturbed, Nickleback, Rammstein, UVERworld (Bleach intros), Abingdon Boys School (howling- darker than black season one intro), Aqua, techno (because right now I can't remember the names atm) and tons more. I think everyone has a tiny soft spot for him, though in my sadistic mind he is a teddy bear. Oh god is he adorable ^.^! I really don't think I have a Naruto character I really dislike. Yeah they have some flaws but if they were perfect? I don't think anyone would like them. I think the only character in anime I don't like is Orihime from bleach, her three episode 'kurosaki-kun' in the Hueco Mundo Arc, killed it for me.

**Sukaretto Miyuki: **Okay I love the name, of your account. 'Scarlet Beautiful Snow' I believe the translation of that is, so you would be Beautiful Scarlet Snow. Anywho, thanks for liking how I wrote Gaara. I found that writing him this way at the 'half way' point between Naruto and Naruto:Shippuden would be a good thing.

* * *

**River: **Sorry to cut you off like that without seeing anything happen to Haruko. I have an idea what is going to happen with her, but I do want to hear your thoughts on the subject, my readers. It would really help me finalize what is going to happen in the next chapter. Though I did give you the kinda weird version of how I think Neji would confess to someone. I didn't see him as getting to the point well because emotionally, he was kinda stunted growing up when expressing feelings of affections and friendship. However he isn't the type to exactly hide a matter, at least from what I see, of importance to him unless need be. I hope you liked the chapter.

Disclaimer: I don't own naruto, I just write for entertainment purposes only.**  
**


	16. Chapter 16: Looking for Justice

It was the day that Hiashi was supposed to visit. I had also called Tsunade herself and Kakashi. I didn't want anyone to interrupt us and asked that no one see me under any reasons for today while I fought with myself to do the right thing. Even after all the pain that I had been through I still did not want anything to happen to Haruko, there was a deep void within her that caused her to do these things. Maybe I was the cause of some relapse of some memories, but since she disabled me to use the Impression Jutsu at the time, I would not know until I could work things out. I knew that Tsunade had charged Shikamaru to get the report from me because of the strong connection of friendship that we shared. She was hoping that I would confide in him and she would get to the bottom of things, but what she wasn't counting on was his feelings for my sister Yuki. There was where I froze. I knew if Yuki found out anything about this, everyone would die, well mostly Haruko. Blood being spilled would not solve any of this. After Hiashi stepped into the door, he closed it and walked over between Tsunade and Kakashi.

"I have asked you all here for a specific reason. Tsunade, you as Hokage must find a way to solve this matter as best you can and I know why you sent Shikamaru. Unfortunately because you sent him, the people involved are in danger of being killed. Yuki is not one to let this slide and I do not want her to fall to her anger and murder anyone. She is better than that. Kakashi, that is why you are here, you have to stop Yuki from doing anything. She would spill WAY more blood than, I guess justice would see split. I however would not like to see any," I began, "As a favor, go to the Hyuga compound and get these people on the list and hide them, then find Yuki and lock her away. Anywhere will do, but keep her out of this."

I handed him the list of people I knew were involved and he looked puzzled.

"I am not finished," I said raising my hand, "Hiashi I called you here because this involves your clan. Haruko was the one who staged my disappearance and torture. Kouki, Youta, Hikari, and Mitsuko were also involved and by a lesser part a Branch Member Hiraku, gave me the letter. I am sure he did not mean anything by it and probably is under pressure right now or he did not know why he was sending the letter to me. I plead with you to not let anything happen to Haruko or the others, especially since they just watched and even while torture they tried to stop Haruko. I know that what they did is unforgivable but you have to hear me out. The reasoning behind this was because of the relationship that you have with Neji, teaching him the Main House's jutsu and closing the rift that was formed between Branch and Main House members."

"I know that Haruko still keeps to the old ways, but this," said Hiashi, "Is hard to belive."

"You know the law for attacking a Konoha nin," said Tsunade, "Hiashi, I even examined her wounds and from where she was found Haruko is the most likely culprit. All evidence that we have so far is pointing to her, especially with Kori talking."

"That is why I asked you here," I looked at her, "Yes it is true she tormented me with genjutsu and closed my chakra points and kidnapped me, but the ones who did this, look like this. She was too much a coward to do anything herself. She left me out in the woods to die, but because of my will and trying to protect certain things, I fought death. I will be damned if I fought for nothing. She is not to be touched until I find out why she did this. Her reasoning was blamed on the old ways of the Hyuga Clan but there was something more...I don't know, darker. Lord Hiashi, is there anything in family records that say she was traumatized or anything?"

Hiashi's expression hardened when he heard everything that I said. He looked at me, "Are you sure that is what you want?"

"There is a fine line between Justice and Revenge," I said looking away, "Though I am not dead, I will not see anyone I care about become an Avenger. I know where that leads."

"I can't let Haruko go unpunished," said Hiashi, "Even if she is protected by the Elders because of Hinata's uncertainty in her will. I don't know why you plead for her."

"She is being eaten away on the inside by something. I have already failed myself in telling you all," I said trying not to cry, "It is my fault after all."

"How can you blame yourself?" asked Kakashi, "People are in control of thier emotions and thier choices."

"Not when someone has a hole that can never be filled by anything but hatred," I told him, "Not to resurface memories but you should know all to well what that can do to someone. I can tell she hates herself and everything around her. Her sadistic nature is something else, I believe it is the only way she knows how to live. If you must do anything Hiashi, I beg you to do the least amount of damage. Something tells me that if she gets the hint that I am alive and well something awful will befall on your family. I know by herself she is not capable of all the...theatrics that have happened. Someone is helping her."

"Could you recognize them if you saw them?" asked Tsunade.

"No she made me incapable of using anything. Someone was smart enough to see my weakness, and if this goes untouched, then I suppose Yuki is the next victim. She may not be so lucky. The only thing keeping me alive...it was strange, but it wasn't something I could describe. I lost a lot a blood and probably was hallucinating, but I saw something covering me, trying to stitch me back together, but another darker thing, trying to pull me away. I don't know if anything sinister may be bubbling somewhere, but someone helped me to that village. Haruko probably would have been informed by that village and to avoid it," I said, "I may not be as clever as some, but I know trouble when I see it."

"How could you, you were barely alive," said Tsunade.

"That village was so small, even the old man who was taking care of me said so. What are the chances of a travling doctor stumbling upon it? Exactly around the time of me half dead being discovered," I said locking eyes with her, "Do the math."

Her eyes widened, "Do you suspect Orochimaru?"

"No, I suspect something is wrong," I told her, "Physically I am alright, that much is for sure, and I can remember everything except the part between gathering roots for my wounds that cleansed infection and staunched bleeding, then being in the old man's house. I come back with infection regardless, even though a doctor would have done everything to prevent so. Unless that guys house was really nasty, I think I came back here with a bit of a bug. If you were not here I think, something would have happened. Neji already told me he was the one, that and his team to find me and carry me here."

"Well Gai and his team were instructed to guard Sakura when they found you. She took all precautions against infection. She even wrapped you in a chakra net to prevent any pathogens from being spread," said Tsunade.

I then shifted out of bed and planted my feet on the floor, "That and I think I may be on healing crack. I can actually stand up. I have been able to do weird things, but my chakra is low."

"I will have you scanned," said Tsunade, "I haven't seen anyone heal like this...Have you ever had contact with Naruto?"

"Nope, and that is what scares me," I replied, "Maybe it is just me going crazy. And Kakashi, the longer you are here, the closer Yuki is to them."

Kakashi left on that note and Hiashi sat down on my bed, Tsunade had already made her way behind me and was scanning my body. When she was finished I looked at her.

"Well?" I asked.

"It would seem that your chakra is being diverted to healing you, I think the injections we gave you must have caused a reaction," she stated, "You are still weak, but it looks like your chakra has healed your bones, but until they are fully recovered, you have to take it easy. You have to use crutches to get around, and the damage caused to your chakra points seem to have healed nicely. I haven't seen anything like this before, but I can't allow you to leave here, not without accompaniment."

"Well I have to rush to Yuki and make sure she isn't in full scale meltdown mode," I told her while holding onto the bed frame to keep from falling.

Tsunade ordered someone to check on Yuki and then she had a nurse get me some crutches to walk on. After teaching me how to use them Kakashi came back.

"I couldn't find Haruko," he said.

"Shit!" I said biting my lip, "Tsunade, I think Kiba and Neji should come with me...scratch that Hinata."

"Hinata is on a mission," said Hiashi, "I will go with you in their stead."

"Let's go then," I said walking the best I could to Hiashi.

"No!" said Tsunade, "I told you to take it easy."

"Did you miss the part that my sis is hell bent?" I said still walking, "If I know Yuki, she is already in the position to make a bad choice."

**Yuki's POV**

It had taken me a while to track her down, she was really good at hiding and keeping things secret. I probably would have forgotten all about her if Shikamaru wouldn't have reminded me. I should be thankful that he was sent with Kori's apology. I know that once Kori realized her mistake she wouldn't give me a chance. If I could just _talk _to her for a while, I could clear things up. I couldn't do much damage to her though, well not physically but mentally...that is where the fun begins. I was going to make her relive the worst day of her life, over and over and over. It had taken me a few days to find a suitable place, the Uzumaki Compound. Ever since Naruto was gone, no one used it, and Konohamaru was easily rid of.

Then the next thing to do was to get Haruko, the others I could just let them go for now, I needed to get the head of the snake first. With the help of Ino, well her giving me _Calming Remedies, _to help get my mind off Kori being missing, I drugged her. Didn't take much either, though I didn't want any of the others involved. Shikamaru would only try and stop me, though Neji might be on my band wagon, but I couldn't chance it. I knew Kori wouldn't forgive him and I wasn't going to ruin that for her. After drugging Haruko I took her to one of the rooms in the compound and tied her up for good measure. She wasn't a ninja, but she did have connections. Now I just had to wake her up...

**Kori's POV**

"Shikamaru!" I called as I saw him walking towards our house.

"Yes?" he said, "What is it?"

"You idiot!" I began yelling, "Please tell me that you didn't tell her about my injuries?"

"She asked," he said rubbing his head, "Rather violently."

"Shit, come with me," I said grabbing him and hoisting myself on his back, "I can't run, so my terms of forgiving you is you being my ride. Now mush!"

He tried getting me off him, "Hey don't I have a say in this?"

"Well no," I said growling, "IF you want to not be beaten with my hobble helping crutches, then move. Yuki is fixing to kill Haruko."

He sighed, "Great, now you are going to guilt me into this. Fine."

"I don't know whether to beat you for telling her, or to hug you," I said as we took off, "She is still in Konoha. Somewhere close to the Compound, maybe abandoned building?"

"Byakugan!" said Hiashi, "Found her, she is with Haruko at Naruto's place."

"I hope Konohamaru didn't find her," I sighed aloud, "They are alone right?"

"Yes," said Hiashi.

"Mush faster!" I said tightening my grip around Shikamaru.

We reached the Uzumaki Clan home and began making our way into the building. Yuki didn't bother with traps, which meant that she probably only had two days to get her plan going. When we reached the room, Yuki did have that one trapped. Thankfully Hiashi was there and he used the Hakke Kūshō through door on her. The door absorbed most the force but we got the door open and Yuki away from Haruko.

I ran over to Haruko and quickly began to unbind her. Haruko was in a state of paralysis. I touched her forehead and screamed as Haruko's memories filled my head. There was not any time line to them, only rapid flashes of memories and emotions of Haruko's worst memories. I had to break through them to get to Haruko herself. After saving her, I would smack Yuki later, but before I could reach Haruko something stopped me. There was a large eye in my way, it looked through me and began trying to use my own memories against me. This was one fucked up genjutsu, whatever it was. A long range puppet like one, too bad I didn't have the Sharringan, I would have liked this. Whatever it was it used negative emotions and feelings to break the person and weaken their will. That I figured out when looking into the eye and finding a smaller child like version of Haruko inside the center. I couldn't do much from here, but I could figure out what was holding her to her hate.

So I began searching. Watching through her memories, until finally I found it. Her mother. Someone took her mother away, perhaps because she wasn't originally part of the Hyuga Clan. Haruko's saving grace was the fact that she was born in line to make her a Main Family member instead of a Branch, according to traditions. Her mother was around until she was five or so and then something caused her to disappear, the last memories she had was of a branch member telling her something. Perhaps that was her reasoning, but I had to hold on. The longer I held onto this stream of memories, the harder it was to stay and the more pain that came with it. Her father was harsh on her, much like the usual ways of the Hyuga, I turned away from that one, knowing that line wouldn't get me anywhere. Carefully I found another thread of memories that held her mother, apparently her mother hated Haruko for some reason. Even tried to kill her, when Haruko's father found out Haruko's memories show her mother dead and a branch member being punished for it. Haruko blamed herself for not being good enough, but there was something else that I was missing. I didn't have time to look for it though as I was ripped out of Haruko's mind as Hiashi moved me away from being attacked by Haruko.

"Dude what the hell," I said as blood streamed from my nose, "She is being controlled."

"By what?" asked Hiashi.

"Well scratch that, she isn't being controlled, she has her feelings amplified by something, maybe genjutsu she cast on herself. I can break it, but I used too much chakra on the hunting part. If I can wipe out her last memories of her mother, I can break Yuki's and her own genjutsu," I said.

"You are killing yourself," said Yuki, "You know it is what she deserves!"

"Not really, and it may be what she deserves but you will never give it to her," I said, "I can't ask you to break your genjutsu because I know you won't so here is the deal. If you don't break it. I go with Haruko."

"How do you expect to pull that off?" asked Yuki.

"Shikamaru, hold her, and no matter what keep her there," I said stepping to the window,"Cover her mouth too."

Shikamaru did as I asked and I stepped through the room to a window and then raised the glass and sat in the frame, leaning out.

"Three seconds before I let go," I warned her, "One..."

"Are you serious?" asked Shikamaru.

"As a heart attack, two," I said leaning farther out.

"Why?" asked Shikamaru.

"Well probably because I won't make it out of the window, hell I am probably still at the door," I said, "Yuki is still singing. The reason my nose is bleeding is because I have had to fight Yuki and the other thing to get to Haruko."

"Her mouth is covered," said Shikamaru.

"Stab yourself, if you can't do it then you are still at the door," I said before letting go of the window.

Just as I thought, when I let go of the window I wasn't moving. A few seconds passed before Yuki's jutsu broke because Hiashi was the only bright one and covered his ears when the door was opened. He had knocked Yuki out and Shikamaru and I were still at the door. When her genjutsu broke I immediately grabbed the closest thing to me, which happened to be Shikamaru, tossed, well lightly pushed him towards Hiashi, telling Hiashi to throw Shikamaru on Yuki, right before Hiashi grabbed Haruko and disappeared. Haruko was immediately sent to the hospital, and Shikamaru and I showed up at the Hokage's Office with Yuki, partly because ANBU grabbed us. When we arrived a not to happy Tsunade was greeting us. Along with a rather annoyed Kakashi.

"Why am I here?" asked Kakashi.

And that lead to a twenty minute yelling 'riot act' from Tsunade. Only did she stop when Shizune came in with the report of Haruko being fine, just a bit skiddish. Yuki was in trouble because if the Hyuga Elders found out, she would probably be imprisoned if not something worse. They were a very strict though they did abide by the laws of Konoha, but since Yuki took some vengeance they were going to expect she recive punishment too. Hiashi had kept his word, and did not punished the others, and when I was satisfied, Haruko was punished. She was sent to get help, along with her genjutsu being released on her, but she was going to live out the rest of her days. I left the subject of her becoming a Branch Memeber or being locked away to the Hyugas themselves. She would have to make up for what she did and when they passed that she would be disowned by the Hyuga Clan, Tsunade said that she would have to serve a life sentence for what she did to me. I made it so that her prision would be Konoha, and she would have to live next to us for a while. I figured that way Yuki was getting her revenge by Haruko being constantly reminded of us, and I got my way of her living.

With her out of the way I had other problems. Dealing with my physical terrorist replacement, and Tsunades sense of humor, Lee, getting Yuki and Shikamaru together, and probably figuring out who was really behind me being kidnapped. Things got kinda back to normal, I was motivated to get my therapy done because I believe I was starting to see rainbows that were influenced by Lee's personality. I loved him because he was sweet but I hated him because he loved to announce to the world his feelings. Neji and I saw a bit more of one another, and when he had time, and I was begging him to save me, he helped get me back into shape. After four weeks though Tsunade thought I had received enough punishment and got me to working with a real physical therapist. Though because of Lee and Neji, I was already able to lift nearly seventy pounds with one arm and probably out run a rabbit by now. My range of motion was increased because of the mini terrorist Hanabi scaring the life out of me, and using ropes to tie me up to things when I was ignoring her, and sparring with Neji. On the sixth week of my therapy Shikamaru still hadn't said anything to Yuki. So with the help of my terrorists, and Ino, I had set them up on a date.

When they both arrived, Yuki was ready to kill me and Shikamaru wanted to run. Thankfully they stayed long enough to talk for a couple hours and play boring shoji before I lost intrest and stopped spying on them. It seemed to go well though because Yuki came back with a smile on her face. When I asked her what was up, she told me she had actually stalemated Shikamaru once.

"You mean you didn't even talk about yourselves?" I followed her into her room.

"Why?" she told me, "It was clearly an evil plot that you and your friends came up with. I actually like the way things are."

"Chicken," I muttered.

Well I wasn't any better off, I mean I got a confession of 'I like you' from Neji and a hug, but after that...mostly bruises. Though I was seriously considering myself a masochist at this point because when found myself looking at them I smiled. Well my next plan over my annoying, to put it mildly, rehab was to ask out Neji, or at least kiss him, and to get the two 'braniacs' to admit they have feelings for one another and get them to ask one another out.

* * *

Hakke Kūshō- Eight Trigrams Empty Palm- This technique is similar in practice to Eight Trigrams Palms Heavenly Spin, but has a specific target rather than a general area. To perform it, the user precisely pinpoints the enemy's vital points with the Byakugan and releases a high-speed palm thrust. A "vacuum shell" compressed using the Gentle Fist is formed to attack the opponent's vitals from a distance, blowing them off their feet with tremendous force before they even notice they were hit.

* * *

**Alpenwolf: **Richter Abend, that is who the avi is. Er what Pein did to Konoha would be less destructive honestly if she wanted to put her time and effort into something like that...just saying. Er, I take it that you have become attached to Kori and want revenge on those who have caused her pain...I do not blame I think death is a bit too quick for things, I hope you liked what I did... For the 'some were too dead', it was a bit of a pun towards the resurrection jutsus, or forbidden techniques that are used in the Naruto Universe to resurrect a person after that had died. As for your name, I do not wish for you to change it, though I am unsure if you used French, Dutch/German, or what. Actually when I looked up the character because I was unfamiliar with him, Zelos was the first character that popped up, and to my uneducated mind of the Tales of Symphonia world I had mistaken him for so. I blame google, and people actually mistaking Richter for Zelos, but it is okay, I have now corrected the matter and have searched for the correct answer.

**SilverMusic: **Well she is currently the main villain in this story now, since I can not use cannon villains yet..still not sure how I am going to pull that one off. Thanks for that, yeah I think the Unicorn might make an appearance...tehehe. Yes, Shikamaru does blush, and in the words of English dubbed Naruto: Belive it! Wow, are you my good musical twin, cuz I am pretty sure I am the evil one on this boat.

**Sukaretto Miyuki: **Well my name comes from the Eragon series, in that world's Elvish, meaning River Witch, though origionally I had the name Adurnaseithr (water witch) and Riverwyarda (half english meaning river's fate) . Back when I played WoW I was reading the series and looked up a name for my characters. By my third toon, which was a heal shaman I used the name Riverseithr, and my friends have been calling me River ever since. So that is the story behind one of my nicknames. Er back to story. Yes Haruko is a evil manipulative (censored, censored, explinative, long beeeping noises) and deserves to die, but death is far too quick.

* * *

**River: **So there you have it. I know you guys wanted revenge and you kinda got it. In a least amount of blood shed. The other Hyuga members really didn't have anything to do with Kori's misery, they were just there. So no punishment for them because they stood up to Haruko. I wanted Yuki to be the kinda 'oh no you didn't' but I didn't want her character to end up like Sasuke, there is already enough of...well one is enough. I thought I would end this with a less serious note but I know you guys will have questions about the person behind the kidnapping of Kori and what not. Don't worry I will get to that soon.**  
**


	17. Chapter 17:Love Drug

It was Febuary and I was excited! Valentine's was around the corner. I was tickled with myself about the whole plan coming to my mind. Operation Get Yuki and Shikamaru Together, or in short Valentine Revenge. Oh she would hate me for it, but in the long run she would forgive me and actually thank me some day. Phase one was in motion since I already asked her to help me make some treats for everyone. Unfortunately the presents sent to Suna would have to be cards and other stuff, for chocolate melted quick. We made a large bag of chocolate covered chips for Choji, pretzels for Kakashi and Asuma, little bones for Kiba and dog friendly chocolate for Akimaru, Oreo and gummy worms for Shino, some chilli powder ones for Gai, Lee, and Tanzo, some jelly filled ones for sensei, and I convinced her that some of the kisses would be for Shikamaru, though they were really for Hiashi...in a strange way. While she was exhausted over making most the treats, since I made excuses to get ingredients when we ran low, I was fighting over what to make Shikamaru and Neji. Then it hit me on what I was making Shikamaru...from Yuki of course. I got little caramel filled turtles from the store, since I did not have the experience to do it myself, and made a small cake with a message from Yuki in the center and the turtles on top as chess pieces, then I drizzled chocolate to make lines.

I was a bit bummed that I couldn't think of anything to make Neji, well that was until I made my rounds on delivering Hiashi's present early, along with Kiba's, Asuma's, and Shino's. There wouldn't be enough time for me to get ALL of them and spend time with Neji tomorrow. Plus I wanted to torment Kiba a bit longer for him getting onto my case about hopping around with my crutches. When I made it to the Compound I found Hiashi having tea with his daughters. I hobbled towards them smiling.

"Hiashi!" I said, "I know it is early but here. Happy early Valentines."

"Thank you," he said, "I don't suppose you have anything for Neji."

"Well I would but I can't think of anything. I don't want to be cheesy and make hearts or anything like that."

"I am sure he would love anything you can make," he said.

"Oh god, I have thought of something!" I said turning, "Thanks Hiashi!"

Well I could be sweet and evil at the same time. No one is perfect, so my objective was supply Shikamaru AND Neji with chocolates laced with espresso. I wouldn't have the chance of seeing either of them hyper. So I went back to the house and broke into my secret stash of espresso and began to work. I made assorted flavors of chocolate balls and rolled them around in the fine grounds of the espresso, then I carefully hid them from Yuki's sight and woke her up to help me deliver the rest of the gifts. The first people on our list were Gai and Lee. We went to Lee's dojo and found him and Gai training.

"Yos!" I called in.

"Kori," said Lee, "You look like the pride of youth fighting all hinderence and showing the world your.."

"I got it," I said giggling and holding out their present, "Here fireball. This should make your day."

"Look Lee," said Gai, "Two lovely girls in the full bloom of their youth spreading joy across Konoha by delivering presents! How wonderful it is to see Kori's courage to pull through her recovery with blinding speed! As these two beauties live life to the fullest and remember my manly features, they have humbly acknowledged me as important enough to recive a gift made by thier heart and soul!"

"Yeah they are for tomorrow but Yuki and I wanted to get an early start, these crutches are a pain," I told them, "Yeah blame this blinding speed on your crazy students. I am surprised I haven't re-broken anything."

Yuki and I left, neglecting to tell Gai that we made some for Kakashi to, it was just too painful to watch him full of joy...and then ruin it. Our next stop was Kakashi's house. When we got there we knocked on his door. When he answered both Yuki and I were embarrassed as hell. He had just gotten out of the shower and was still only wearing his mask and a towel.

"Ah here," I said tossing the chocolate and grabbing Yuki and running away.

The next stop was Choji, who we passed on the way to his house. He enjoyed his present and decided a hug was in order, a crushing bone breaking bear hug. Thankfully none of my bones broke, but I was in fear of ever letting him hug me again. Tanzo and Hayama-sensei were out at the training grounds practicing. So after we got there, I took a rest because my fingers were going numb and Yuki gave them their gifts. Hayama asked me how I was doing, and I told him other than the stiffness in the mornings and some minor pain now and again I was fine. After we delivered the treats it was already time for my therapy, god I wanted to shoot someone...or stab them. This terrorist was bright, sun-shiney, and bubbly. Oh and how she 'coaxed and cheered' me on, was annoying. I would rather take the lifetime of beatings than deal with her for another month. God Tsunade's sense of humor was meaner than mine sometimes. I kept doing the same routine just so I could slap her.

"You are doing so well, three more to go," she cheered, rainbows surrounding her.

_One, I will meet you in a dark alley, Two, I will beat the living daylights out of you, Three, I will sow that mouth shut...or I could just skip all the work and go with duct tape..._

After therapy, I was ready to kill, maim, and terrorize whatever crossed my path first. Yuki took hint of this and quickly took me home before she locked me in my room for the evening. The next morning I stumbled out of bed and got the treats ready. Yuki was still asleep and Shikamaru would be heading to the Academy soon. I got dressed and quickly grabbed everything I needed and bolted out of the door.

**Meanwhile...**

* * *

Tsunade sat at her desk pondering who would try and smuggle a 'Love Potion' into Konoha. She had already confiscated two cases but there were still more to be found. They had shown up in stores a week prior and reports of people going crazy were already coming in. After she admitted one lady into the hospital she had a blood test ran. The tests were difficult because the drug was naturally working with the body's own metabolism and hard to trace.

"I have the results," said Shizune when running to Tsunade's desk.

Tsunade carefully read over the the papers she was given. After she finished reading she had some of her best jonin come to her office.

"Ladies and Gentlemen," she said, "I want you to find all of the drugs that have been smuggled in and distributed through Konoha. It would seem that this drug by itself is harmless but when additives such as alcohol, chocolate, or aphrodisiacs are mixed with it, the person's hormone levels increase. Leaving them in a state of mind that is 'true' to themselves. It also increases one's urge to find a mate, on a temporary basis or permanent. Some people have been sent into 'love' frenzies, while others become violent or depressed. This drug is far too unstable to let run free. This drug can be found in liquid or powdered form, please use the up most caution when dealing with this drug. If you come in contact with it and when the body becomes stressed, the drug is activated. Though it is more potent if both parties ingest or come in contact with it, via through the skin. If skin contact is made, a small pinkish hue will appear where the drug has affected it and will congeal into what some people have called ediable jelly, it might be a reaction to the chemical make-up of people. After that happens the drug will begin activating and works with the persons metabolism and that makes it hard to trace, leaving you in a weakened state. Since it is Valentine's Day the targets are most likely single females between the ages of sixteen and thirty and shops that specifically cater to those who are single, or looking for something special. Perfumes, drinks, chocolates made in the last few days with the girls stopping at specialty shops, and premade candies sold at the same shops are to be confiscated. Most people are going to be under streets because it is a holiday and that leaves us little time to find the remaining traces. Dismissed."

After all of the shinobi left, Tsunade fell back into her chair and worried. She had hoped that this holiday would be peaceful but with enemies moving she couldn't take chances. This drug was probably originally made to increase animal populations of endangered species, but now is being experimented on humans. Orochimaru was the likely culprit, but she couldn't see him as the saving kind. There must have been a mistake in deliveries...

**End**

* * *

I ran down the stairs and was halfway down the block when I accidentally tripped over a guy carrying boxes. The chocolates and cake fell out of my hands and the contence of his bag spilled.

"Oh my god, I am so sorry," I said helping the guy pick up his things.

"Don't worry about it," he said, "Girls during this time of year are crazy. So who are you after?"

"Well," I said, "There is someone but right now I am delivering something for my sis so she can sleep in and not steal the chocolates I made. Eww, what is that smell?"

"I suppose Cologne," he said, "This creepy woman gave it to me, saying that it would attract my soul mate. I am not too worried about it, my girlfriend and I are doing really well."

"I think that is sake, kinda fruity for it though," I said picking up my wrapped chocolates,"Shit, some of the fruity funk spilt on the wrapper. Ah well, nothing a little air won't cure. Well see you around!"

I ran into Shikamaru on the way down to his house and gave him the cake and chocolates. Thankfully the cake wasn't wet or damaged.

"What are you doing?" he lazily asked.

"Duh, it is Valentine's Day. I wanted to give you mine and Yuki's presents before you went to the Academy. That way you have something sweet to snack on," I beamed.

"Well it is only a half of a day today. I don't deal with frivolous girls droning on about their special someone," he sighed, "Sakura and Ino about drove me insane when I was younger."

" 'Kay," I said, "So while you are here, care to walk me or at least pretend to listen to me as I hobble."

We walked until we reached the Academy. Then I bid him goodbye and slowly made my way to the Hyuga Compound. When I got there I could hear sounds of a scuffle. I quickly went on 'oh no you didn't!' mode and managed to climb over the wall. When I reached the top, I was embarrassed when I found out it was Hanabi training with one of the other Hyuga Clan members. Without taking her eyes off her opponent she said hello to me and managed to quickly take him down.

"He is in his room," said Hanabi, "Good luck."

I looked puzzled and carefully climbed down, well that is before I slipped and fell off the wall. After picking myself up I walked into the Compound, took off my shoes, and then made my way toward Neji's room. I knocked on the door and there was no answer. After a minute I opened the door slowly to find him still in bed. If it wasn't before nine I would call him sleeping in, but he looked so peaceful and he did get back from a mission not to long ago. I couldn't help myself and I opened the door a bit more so I could stick my head in. When I did though Neji woke up and sat up. The covers pooled around his waist and I could see that he was shirtless. My eyes couldn't help but trail down his porcelain skin. It then came to my attention his hair was not cascading down it, nor did he have massive bed head. After rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, he gathered some dark looking material and slipped a white tie off of it. Then slowly he threaded his hand through it, and that is when it donned on me he braided his hair partly to keep it from frizzing and knotting. I bit my lip hard to keep from laughing.

"How long are you going to stand there?" he asked calmly.

"Another minute, I am not finished debating on if it was a good idea to wake you up," I half lied.

He sighed and began to throw the sheets off of his legs and get out of bed. I then took my chance to opend the door enough so I could fit my body through the space and then shut the door. Then rummaging through my pockets I found the wrapped sweets I made him. I then held them up and brought my eyes up so I could find him again. This time he was in the midst of gathering a new set of clothes then he began to walk past me.

"I will be right back," he said, "I am going to take a bath."

After he left I immediately started repeating a mantra, "Don't think, don't think, don't think...oh god."

All I could do was walk over to the bed, sit down, hug a pillow and imagine him in a tub of hot water, droplets trailing down that perfect skin of his. The more I thought about it the less water there was, and pretty soon it was him in a shower with hot steamy water rolling down his body, hand running through his hair, and then him noticing me oogaling and stepping out of the shower. The only thing keeping me from passing out due to blood loss was the fact I was probably ripping the pillow a new one. Suddenly I was snapped out of my thoughts by the door closing and I looked up to find Neji still shirtless. I instantly covered up my face to keep him from seeing the red that still lingered.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

I lowered the pillow and looked at his feet, "Er, I saw a spider..."

"I see," he said, "Now what brings you here?"

"Valentine's Day," I muttered, before holding out the probably melted chocolates due to the increase of my body temperature.

"Thank you," he finally said after a long pause and took the chocolates.

"You, er, welcome I guess," I said shifting slightly.

"What happened to your hand?" he asked.

"Eh?" I said looking at the back of my hand, "Oh I bumped into a guy and that fruity stuff must have spilled on me."

I rubbed the back of my hand on my pants to clean the goo off. Whatever it was, it turned the back of my hand a slight pink color before it quickly faded. I then warned Neji about some of the liquid spilling on the bag but it didn't seem that any goo formed on the bag itself. He opened the bag and took out one of the small chocolate balls and inspected it. I was thankful that the chocolates didn't seem to get wet. When he was happy about them not being wet or covered in anything he ate one.

"So what are you doing today?" I asked casually.

"Nothing really," he said, "Gai-sensei is helping Lee at his dojo today. They also wanted me to thank you for thier chocolates and they forced me to eat some! It was really spicy, what did you put in it?"

"Chilli powder," I said, "I knew that is what they liked and decided to go with it. I am glad that they liked it, yours I just dusted them with coffee. Gives the chocolate a slight bitter taste."

"It tasted pretty sweet to me," he said, "Did you add anything else?"

"No why?" I asked.

"I tasted citrus," he said.

"Ah well," I said thinking nothing of it, "Come over to my house, I need to get Yuki awake and see her reaction to what I gave Shikamaru."

"This doesn't sound good," he sighed.

"Well his were espresso beans covered in chocolate," I grinned evily.

"Okay, that I might have to see," he said before he finished getting dressed.

We arrived at my house and I reluctantly lost Roshambo and had to wake Yuki up. She was slightly annoyed I let her sleep in but it was almost time for Shikamaru to get off his duties as a teacher for the day. While waiting for him, we all sat down and watched a bit of cheesy comedy show. Like clockwork the door was being knocked upon and Yuki bounced up and got the door. Shikamaru came in and headed to the island and sat down. Yuki had already, scarily enough, made tea for everyone and passed it around. Shikamaru seemed to be looking at Yuki and then his tea quite a lot, so the evil plot formed. I just had to get those two stuck in a room together...

"Thanks for the chocolates," said Shikamaru pulling out his bag, "The cake was good to, but there was a mishap at the academy."

"What happened?" I asked.

"Well, everyone else thought it was good too," he grumbled.

"Ouch," I said, "Ah well, love should be shared. So um anyway, Yuki you have YOURS to give to Shikamaru?"

"Eh?" she said looking at me.

"Your present," I reminded her.

"Oh yeah," she said hopping up and heading to her room.

When she left, I asked Shikamaru and Neji to help me with an old trunk that I couldn't lift in my room. Well I was telling the truth, I needed to get the damn thing out from the middle of my floor but I needed only one of them to actually help. When they both followed me to my room, Yuki was still in her room looking for her present. I smiled to myself recalling how I hid the gift from her before I went to deliver gifts. Close to her room, I stopped just short of walking through my door frame. Then I looked at Neji and Shikamaru.

"Sorry about this," I said to Shikamaru before looking at Neji, "Move."

Neji side stepped out of the way just in time for me to tackle and push Shikamaru into Yuki's room and closed the door on him. Then I used my 'Orange' Impression Art to create some locks that would hold the door shut for a moment. With that done I had Neji help me move the trunk to the foot of my bed, that way I wouldn't trip over it when I tried getting into my closet. When that was done, I realized it was kinda hot in my room. I really didn't think anything of it, since I was in long sleeves when I made deliveries and then I know Yuki and I kept the heater on a lot.

"Hey," I said going over to my closet, "I gotta change shirts, this long sleeve is killing me. I think we keep it too hot. Could you check the thermostat?"

"Alright, where is it?" asked Neji heading toward my door.

"In the hall, next to the closet thing the washer and dryer are in," I said trying to pick out a cooler shirt.

**Yuki's POV**

"She locked us in," I groaned after trying to open the door for the fifth time.

I knew it wasn't going to budge, but I was hoping Kori didn't have the stamina to keep the jutsu up. I really did not want to break down my door or climb out through the window. Now I was stuck in a room alone with Shikamaru, things could be worse. Not that I am complaining, I just could think of a few other things I would rather be doing other than being held against my will in my own place. I should have known something was up when I couldn't find my gift for Shikamaru right off the bat. I braced my head against the door and sighed, frustrated.

"Why is she doing this?" asked Shikamaru.

"She is being a matchmaker I think," I mumbled.

"That is a bit vauge," he said, I could hear the smirk in his voice.

"She thinks that because I like you I want to jump your bones or something," I huffed turning around and leaning against the door.

"I see," said Shikamaru calmly.

I wanted to break down the door and lock myself into another room. This conversation was not going where I had hoped. Shikamaru was hard to read when he wanted to be, and right now reading documents in another language I didn't know seemed easier. All I could do is look at him sitting on my bed, normally I would have jumped for joy thinking of him being in my bed, right now not so much. I knew he was thinking of ways to get out, he wasn't much for being on the receiving end of one of Kori's pranks. Though when I thought about it, who would?

He sighed and closed his eyes for a second before speaking, "So do you?"

"What?" I asked nearly yelling.

"You heard me," he said trying to look away.

"Look I don't know if she has done something to you, you are just trying to tease me, or what. I don't really think this is the right time, nor do I think it is very funny. Couldn't you talk about something else OTHER than that?" I said trying to fight the blush creeping up.

"I will take that as a yes," he said smiling.

"That is NOT what I meant," I said irritated, "Now if you don't mind, I would like it if we got out of here. Without going out the window or breaking my door."

"Then how do you suggest we get out?" he asked.

"You mean you don't have a plan?" I gasped before I saw his smirk, "Not funny."

"Well if your crazy sister wants to play matchmaker, let's just give her what she wants," he said, "Just until we get out of here."

"Good idea," I said, "So, how far should we take this. Hugging would work, holding hands, maybe ruffle up the hair to say 'we made out'...not lovey dovey crap."

"Just mess up the hair for now," he said taking out his ponytail and giving the tie to me, "You will need this."

We both messed up our hair and I shoved the tie into my pocked and messed up our clothes. Nothing too harsh, but enough to say that something happened. Next thing that happened was I slammed myself into the wall and asked Shikamaru to say anything close enough to the door for her to hear. Then I tripped him and sat on his abdomen so it would look like we were in the middle of something. We sat there for five minutes and nothing happened. Shikamaru went to get up but I caught him and pushed him back down with my hand over his mouth before giving the silent 'be quiet' signal. I could hear something happening, maybe she was moving outside my door, but I couldn't quite make out what it was. I heard something happen to the door and I rose up and checked it, sure enough it was unlocked.

**Kori's POV**

Neji had apparently come back and was standing in the door way when I pulled my shirt over my head. After fixing it, I heard a loud thud, and mumbles of Shikamaru coming from Yuki's room. Well it wasn't what I wanted but it would work. I knew that there had to be something up but I wasn't going to chance Yuki being mad at me forever. So I brushed passed Neji and broke the jutsu before returning to my room. I could hear Neji laughing at something so I decided to ask him what he found so funny.

"Your shirt is inside out and backward," he said.

I looked down, he was right. So I decided to turn around and quickly turn my shirt the correct way before putting it back on. I wasn't too embarrassed, he had seen me in my underwear before and he did have a female teammate so it wasn't like I was going to faze him, but then again he liked me. Well that was the main reason that I turned around. When I had the shirt off I heard some noise behind me before I was slammed onto the bed. Well I did piss Yuki off, so I deserved it. I think she either body slammed me or just tossed Neji on me, I wasn't sure of which though. I squirmed around and turned so I could face what was on top of me. There was a very odd looking Neji. His face was very flush and his eyes had a slight glassiness to them.

"Neji, are you alright," I said trying to get my hands free.

"I feel strange," he whispered.

"Okay, attacking me while changing, yeah I would say so," I said feeling his forehead, "You seem to have a slight fever. Maybe you ran into a bug or something, well not a bug bug but a -cough, cough- sneezey one."

It took me a full second for my internal monologue to kick in. _Neji is on you...you are shirtless...he is inching closer...EP! _I was very uncomfortable, there wasn't anything that could have prepared me for being THIS close to him. Yeah I had seen him shirtless before, but this was really different. I could feel more than just a blush creep up on my face, I really wanted this and I mean REALLY wanted this. I looked up at him and my vision was becoming hazy, like focusing on an object and if you stare long enough you get tunnel vision. My brain told me to push him off, but I really don't think I was listening to well because I grabbed him and began kissing him! He had a mild spearmint taste to him, along with the tang of the fruity stuff and the chocolate he ate. My hands immediately began wrapping themselves around his neck as his began trailing down my sides. I do have to admit, he was an amazing kisser, it took all of a second before I was out in space seeing the stars.

Something kept telling me to go farther and with that, and with that I began using my hands to find the hem of his shirt so I could feel his skin. As my hands trailed down his back he gave a little moan and began kissing my jawline and trailing the kisses down my neck. I was about to move under his shirt before a loud yell broke us up.

"Oh my god, shut your door!" screamed Yuki.

We broke apart and I jumped to the other side of my bed with probably a face as red as a tomato. I grabbed my shirt and quickly put it on before looking at him and then Yuki. I hopped up and ran out of my room before starting to head down the hallway. Before I made it though I was firmly stopped by Yuki and she gave me her 'hold it sister' face. I knew I was in for humiliation and possibly bruises.

"Ek! I am fragile!" I said cringing.

"Bull," she said, "What the hell were you doing to Neji!"

"Erm, he started it?" I whispered.

"Yeah right," she said flatly.

"He did!" I defended myself before truth decided to bite me in the ass, "But I wasn planning on finishing it."

I got whacked upside the head before being chewed out. A few seconds into it though I was saved by the graces of Shikamaru walking out of her room, grabbing her arm and dragging her back in. Though he didn't even bother shutting the door as he started making out with her too.

"Oh and you get onto me," I scoffed.

It took me a second before something donned on me. _Wait a minute, since when does Shikamaru openly do stuff? Something isn't...Ek, grabbed, kissed, hot...no focus! Okay what is wrong with this picture...oh my god abs...no no bad...bad! Okay Neji is acting like a freak...oh dear god don't bite me there...Shikamaru is reacting...hands out of the shorts...Okay, think before you can't anymore...must get Neji, lack of better phrasing, off..._

I oh so reluctantly pushed Neji off me and fought with myself to keep moving and not sit there and make out with a now shirtless hottie. I was pretty sure I would have hickeys if this kept going. So after I got up I went over to Yuki's room, who I found was in the same predicament. Clothes falling off and in a hot make out session. Aside from knowing I would make her mad, I had to play the 'mature' card. So I used my jutsu to seperate them and chain Shikamaru up, though the way he looked, I kinda just wanted to stare.

"What the hell!" yelled Yuki.

"I think...we shouldn't make out with them," I told her, "Something isn't right. I mean yes, Neji is more forward but I don't think his hormones would turn him into THIS much of a...Neji!"

About mid sentence, Neji was using his nails in the up most 'turn you on' way. He began at my belt line, trailed his nails over my hips and began going up the sides.

"Okay see what I mean," I said using the same thing on him, "He isn't like that...normally. Something is VERY wrong."

About that time there was a knock on our door. When I opened it Ino was there and she looked a mess. It seemed as though she hadn't slept in a while.

"Hey," she said, "Can I borrow your couch for a half hour. I am supposed to be back. There is this crazy thing going around Konoha and it is turning people nuts!"

"Explain," I said helping her to the couch.

"Well, people are fighting, some people have tried to kill themselves, and others just won't keep thier clothes on," she said, "Tsunade warned us about this new drug that was smuggled into Konoha that makes people want to...mate."

"Oh god," I gasped, "How do they get drugged?"

"As far as we know you have to ingest some of the drug for it to affect you. Candies, sake, and other things have been confiscated to prevent this from being a full scale plauge. It started three days ago...and Sakura and I have been practically living there since it began."

"The citrus," I whispered, "Hey Ino, have any of them tasted citrus before they went crazy?"

"Yeah, most people said that a fruity taste was in whatever they were eating before they started being rabid," she sighed before passing out.

I left Ino there and went back to Yuki's room to retrieve them. I accidentally caused this, I had to fix it. When I entered I told Yuki to stay here to wake up Ino and then I forced the boys to head over to the hospital with me. When we got there I checked them in, and it took what seemed like forever for someone to greet us. Mainly because Neji kept trying to strip and make out with me, all with an amazing skill of not using his hands. When we were shown the room they had blood samples taken and I waited while they sent them off.

"Have they eaten anything recently?" the nurse asked.

"Yeah," I said pulling out both bags of chocolate and handing them to her, "I think this is the cause."

"You will have to wait a few minutes so we can tell how much is in their system," she said leaving the room.

"Wait," I said panicking, "Give them tranquilizers or something!"

Unfortunately I had to deal with two extremely horny boys while waiting on the test results. The nurse came back sometime later and motioned for me to follow her.

"Here, come with me," she said.

I got up and followed her.

After we stopped she handed me two small vials of liquid, "They have to take this. It won't be easy because as far as we have seen most people don't want to take it willingly. It might be part of the drug or something but other than this, those two are physically fine...So they have to go home. Unfortunately after they take the antidote they will be in very poor condition. So you will have to take care of them. They might even become violent so be careful, after they take it, the reaction is similar to an alcoholic or drug user going into withdraws. So make them as comfortable as possible," she said.

"I don't want to hurt them," I said.

"The only other option is to satisfy their needs until the drug wears off, which could be anywhere from a day or two," she said, "If you chose this course, they would be in near physical pain because of the imbalace of hormones taking a toll on them due to mental and physical stress."

I took the bottles, "Not that I would mind, but they might when they come off the drug. Oh god this sucks."

With that in mind I made my way back to the room and took them both back to the apartment. When I got home Yuki was making dinner and I told her about everything. So right now we were looking at giving them the antidote or sexing them up constantly for up to two days. I don't even think a hooker could do that constantly for two days, but then again I wouldn't know.

* * *

**Alpenwolf: **The same way you use any genjutsu on somone, they are not immune to them. Noted, in the cannon Chunin Exams Hinata is kidnapped and Hannabi and Hiashi were both there, along with an elder from the Hyuga Clan. Now when Hinata was kindapped Neji had to save her because he was one of the ones not affected by it because he wasn't there when the genjutsu was cast. Anyway, as for Haruko, it is somewhat like that. She won't be able to lash out at the girls anymore and with her being cast out, she will probably try to change a little even though she doesn't realize it. Your name translates into the same thing in three languages sir, I was curious about which one you picked...If I guessed where you live, probably with you knowing little french you are probably closer to Denmark or the Netherlands than actual France, if not close to Frankfurt am Main, but that is just a guess with me knowing very little about you other than English being your second language and German(Deutsch) being your native. Only words I know are "Guten Tag" "Ach bin (my name)" and "Gute Nacht". As for French, I used to speak it fluently but lost touch when I didn't use it...couldn't really retain Spanish either.

**Silver Music: **Well Yuki and Kori are based off of real people. Kori is based somewhat off me, I can not cause harm to anyone no matter what has been done to me. I realized a long time ago that there is an 'inner darkness' that causes people to act the way that they do, whether it be memories, pent up emotions, stress, or them looking for attention. I really feel sorry for those who do things like that but some people don't like it when I try and help, it makes them realize that there is something missing. As for Yuki's reaction, that is why the chapter was called looking for justice. It was a fine line between what is considered justice and that which is considered revenge. Even with those working within the justice system there is some form of revenge that comes with it. If a murderer is put to death then the family that was victim get thier own personal vengance toward that person. Shoot bend her, break her, you can't change Kori. Okay the blushing is back...

**Sukaretto Miyuki- **Thank you. I will explain later on how she ended up that way. Well it is just going to have to be revealed how much good there is in Haruko if there is. I might do something with just her in it, but I haven't got the idea formed just yet.

* * *

**River: **Okay guys, sorry for the cliffie but I wanted to get this chapter out since it has been far too long since my last update. I have been trying to get all my school work done so I can attend this fall...go me for starting late. LOL. Anyway, I wanna hear what you guys think...Should we go for the antidote or option two?**  
**


	18. Chapter 18: Choices

Okay readers doing the shout outs first...then the chappy.

**Alpenwolf: **So you live in Cologne? That was the rough estimate I found fitting your description...Well option one would have been a hurt/comfort type deal while option two is a more porn-ish chapter. Though I had difficulty with writing this chapter, I could think of thousands of things until I sat down in front of my computer. BUT with sheer willpower here it is.

**SilverMusic:** Thanks for your short review and support, though there really isn't much to comment back on it.

**Sukaretto Miyuki: **Hell these guys need no puppy eyes, I would jump them just for walking down the street. Though with you mentioning your mom I would say something along the lines of corrupting the innocent but I doubt you are really innocent...depending on how you look at it. I am going for the 'this girl is perverted, I like her' (now you are not considered innocent) now in OTHER ways I do not want to know. This reasoning being from asking one of my friends one day about something and having WAY too much information passed to me. I still can't look at them the same...

**Ninja Trio's Best:** Ah another perv, or at least one that hopes I shall not put fanfiction to shame by trying to write sexual encounters and failing at them. Well here is your chance to see how well or poorly I did. Enjoy. By the way, welcome to those who actually post reviews, I am your lovley insane host this evening and will hope to either shock, disturb, make you cringe, squeal, laugh, cry, or have any other emotional/physical respose to my work. Have a great day.

* * *

"So what is the game plan?" I asked Yuki.

"Don't look at me! I say give them the antidote!" she said stirring the curry.

"Well the nurse said needs, that shouldn't be too hard," I said thinking of all the non-senual-sexual things that people do, "Just make sure they are fed, and kept indoors."

"They aren't pets!" she reminded me.

"I don't know," I said trying to keep calm as Neji came behind me and hugged me tightly, "They are pretty affectionate."

"What will Tsunade say?" Yuki said while trying to keep Shikamaru arms length from her.

"Trouble follo- No!" I said catching Neji's hand before it wandered too far up my abdomen, "Neji, I know that you are...um...not yourself but um...being felt up is...er nice but NO that isn't what I meant to say! This is not going well for us."

I used my Orange Binding to tie them to a chair as I sighed loudly, frustrated with all the bad thoughts stuck in my head. Now I wasn't a slut or anything but you would have to have no emotions, no hormones, and be really fucking homosexual, insane, or be a nun to ignore the advances. Though if they kept up, I was sure I was going to give in. My skin was already flush, for sure, and I had a difficult time keeping my breathing level.

"Okay, sight is one way to get someone riled...First we dress in the worst, baggiest, most unappealing outfits we have," I said going into my room to do just that, moments later I came out with a shirt that could eat me whole, pants that were only held up by the tie string, and braided my hair in an unkempt plait and loosely tied it. I felt very weird, but I was thankful I owned this junk.

"How long can you hold them?" she asked.

"A few hours at most but this is constantly draining and I have to keep concentration," I said feeling my chakra sap away slowly.

"What about smell?" she reminded me.

"There is NO way I am skipping a shower, my hair will begin to dread if I do," I told her. It was true, my hair had the uncanny ability to dread with it so long and that is with it being clean, brushed, and well taken care of. I was pretty sure it had a mind of its own, and that is the second reason I kept it short, first being I hated the tangles.

"No, I mean getting us to smell like a guy," she said, "We should be able to pick up some 'grandpa' soap and stuff.

Grandpa soap was the kind that really didn't have a good or bad scent, just clean. If you walk in an old folks home or you have a grandparent that uses the _Lever 2000 _or something like that, you know what I mean. Her idea was a good one as well, but then we would have to make sure they didn't try and jump us at night, and the thoughts of chaining them down to the bed was so not helping my 'think chaste' plan.

"We have to practice 'man walking'," I told her, "Remember, slouch, widen your pace, do not swing the hips, and kinda shuffle or was it scuffle across the floor?"

"No make up!" she told me.

"Eh?" I said before I felt my lips turn to a scowl, I wore eyeshadow and eyeliner like it was needed to breathe, and going out of style. There could be no way I couldn't go a few days- okay maybe this once.

The boys hadn't been really talkative since we got them home, nor did they seem really responsive to anything we said, unless we were talking to them. They had some of the stiffness that the nurse said that they would have caused by the stress on thier bodies. I could not imagine what they were going though, well at first, but giving it some though I probably could. The difference between me and Yuki was one of many I suppose but the relationship differences, well difference, was I was a tad bit more open and forward one would say. The thoughts really had me questioning myself about certain things, such as my blank memories about a certain sexual part of my life. I couldn't remember that, most of my memories had already filled in but there were a few more personal ones that had not. Was I married? _No, I would have had a ring on my finger if that were possible, though with me I would have gotten a tattoo, and I had neither. _Was I seeing anyone? _Most likely not since well, I wasn't sure about that and it has been almost a year and yeah, I am not sure..._The main question was at this current point was, was I a virgin? I did not remember any of that but that doesn't mean it wasn't real or true. I mean I would never sleep with anyone like THAT, would I?

The chances of me doing that with no emotional ties, or physical attraction, the word ties would make it sound incest, would be ridiculous, but I did find quite a few people attractive.

With all the thoughts spinning through my head my chakra flow began to get choppy and the jutsu began to weaken. The only reason I realized this is because I had Neji grab me out of the chair I was sitting in and, for some odd reason, snuggling my back. I suppose it was his way of fighting it, keeping minimal contact but trying not to do anything of those sorts. Then a suddenly brilliant or stupid idea came into my head. _Maybe I can calm them down with my Indigo, perhaps not the full version...I can record and perhaps take away some of the feelings or stress. Yuki can sing them to sleep or peace...maybe... _I thought carefully before quickly relaying all the major points of the idea to Yuki.

"Jutsu. Calm. Peace. Me. Absorb," I quickly said to her before focusing on the closest body to me.

I preformed the jutsu and threw my entire will into his head, hopefully breaking any barriers, locks, and anything else that might impede my mental movement. I found myself inside easily enough, but when I got there it was defiantly what I wasn't expecting. His eyesight seemed to be clouded with a pinkish mist that pulsed with his heartbeat, a strange warmth washed over me but my judgment wasn't as clouded as I remember alcohol being, my skin began to feel like it was tingling, very sensitive, and on fire! Simple contact felt really good, though there was something inside of him, and now me, that wanted the clothes ripped off, tasting, feeling, hearing noises, and a LOT more things that would make a sailor blush. I tried to back out but I found myself being chained against something. Looking around the space of aphrodisiac on speed infused mind, I followed the chain, carefully. It wasn't very big, just similar to a chain on a necklace that they use for those cheesy handcuff necklaces, but it wrapped itself up my arm and had a firm hold. It had a wheat style to it, where the metal looks like a braid and it had a quarter inch thickness. It was strange to find that the farther I moved the more the chain wrapped itself around my arm, and if I backed off, the chain would unwind. I moved within his mind and the farther I went the scene changed. Now instead of looking out towards him, I was in a serene garden.

Lush grass filled the area and a few colorful blooms, which I had no idea what they were, filled the area. I could hear the rush of a waterfall nearby and the chain attached to me seemed to be guiding me there, since there was a heavy fog I couldn't see what was in front of me and was now using the chain as a guide. The fog was hard to move though but eventually I made it, with a large sense of my outside body being in peril. Inside the fog was a large spring of water and bathing in the spring was Neji. Trying not to look directly at him, due to the fact I had just passed through Land of Perv, and the Fog, I couldn't help but wonder if he was dressed. I felt a light tugging in the chain and followed it and found out quickly that the other end of the chain was attached to said person whom I was trying not to stare at.

"N-neji?" I said squeaking at the I in his name.

I didn't hear a response, so I asked again. When I didn't get a response I pulled the chain as hard as I could but it wouldn't budge. I wasn't sure if this was Neji doing this or the drug, so I had to be careful. Walking around the edge of the large pool, my feet found themselves heading in his direction. When I stopped and got a closer look at him, I found that in his mind, he was in a semi conscious state. I quickly pulled him out of the water and checked to see if he was living, even in your mind you can die. It was slow and slightly shallow, so I panicked and began to give him mouth to mouth. After a minute he woke up and looked up at me.

"No you aren't dead," I said, "This is the full extent of my ability."

"Your nose is bleeding," he informed me.

"Shit, then I have to get out of here," I said trying to stop the flow, "So what is with the pool?"

"I found this after I began to get hot and think of you," he said blushing, "It helps. The pain goes away for a while but I get really relaxed."

I asked, "How long have you been here?"

"Not long, I guess I fell asleep in the pool," he said, "Though I find it funny that I have been in water but I am not wet."

"That is because we are in your mind. I am being attacked by something on your end, that is why my nose is bleeding, a risk I have to take when entering minds. People's natural subconscious does not like invaders and tries to kick me out, or kill me. I don't think you should be in that pool. It doesn't seem right. Since you have been in it, your zombie like body has been frisking me up for the past hour or so," I said, "By the way, I wouldn't have found you without this chain, that fog was a bitch. Look I gotta go, and you are coming with me."

"I can't get past the fog," he frowned.

"Shit, I wonder if Shika is having the same problems. I think the fog is keeping you unaware of what you are doing. Come on Neji, we are leaving, fog or no," I said picking him up.

"I want to go, but I want to stay. Something isn't right," he said looking at me with empty eyes.

"The fog and the pond. They are sapping away your drive and will. Come on fight it!" I said picking up the 'Inner Neji' and running full speed to the fog.

I just bolted forward, not thinking or trying to retrace my steps. When I hit the fog I felt weak and numb. This time it was bound and determined to not let me out. Neji was becoming really heavy and I wanted to stay there and sleep but my stubborn ass wasn't going to let this stupid fog get the better of me. I pushed through and eventually found myself back in Perv Land. Taking a short break from the apparently exhausting trip, I sat him down and tried looking at him and not the bubbles of thought on what he wanted to do with me. I didn't really have time to see if he was okay or not because I was quickly knocked out of his mind. When I came to on the outside I had to wipe away some blood from my nose and the corner of my mouth.

"What the fuck happened to you?" asked Yuki with aspirin and a glass of water ready.

I explained everything but I wasn't in any condition to try the same thing on Shikamaru. I was very tired and since I was still injured, I didn't have the strength to do it again. Neji came to a few short seconds later but he wasn't in any better condition. He still had a high fever but he wasn't trying to feel me up, so it was a slight improvement.

"Why are you in baggy clothes?" he asked.

"Sight, sound, smell, and your own opinions or hormones are triggers to making you want to hump the first thing you grab, thankfully it has been me and Kori who are the victims," said Yuki, "Don't wory, nothing happened."

"Thank you," said Neji.

"You get to deal with Shikamaru, I am taking a nap," I said wobbling to my room.

"How long before I go back?" asked Neji.

"I don't know, you may or may not. I am not a clairvoyant, I am just your average, run of the mill phyco," I giggled.

"You mean psychic," corrected Neji.

"No she means psycho, a normal person wouldn't do half the shit she does," said Yuki.

Yuki and Neji helped me to bed, though I had to keep telling Neji it was my fault and I had to fix this. Yuki, bless her, made sure to escort Neji out, just in case. I was thankful to get some amount of rest but my sleep was interrupted by a loud crash. I jumped out of my bed and ran as fast as I could down the hallway, and as I entered the living room I was shocked.

"Two seconds I turned my back, now they are killing one another," said Yuki trying to pry off Shikamaru.

"It is getting worse, I think...I think they are getting territorial," I said, mostly wondering aloud.

After we managed to break them apart, we sat them on opposite ends of the living room.

"What happened?" I asked, still winded from the scuffle it took to break them apart.

"I think it was my fault," said Neji, "I asked to help Yuki, to try and take my mind off things and when I got close to her, he kinda jumped."

"Okay, Shikamaru is your problem," I said to Yuki while getting Neji out of the living room.

"Why am I not like him?" asked Neji.

"Probably because I brought your consciousness out, I didn't do it for him," I said feeling weak still, "I won't be able to do the lengthy jutsu again for a while. The thing that worries me now is that I could have a fake reaction to the drug. I didn't take it but 'touching' you may cause me to react. If I am out for the count, I don't think her voice can keep up."

"Out for the count?" he said raising his eyebrow.

"You know, under similar effects of the drug," I said adverting my eyes, "Not that I would need the help."

"Help?" he said stopping in the middle of the hall.

"Dude you already know I like you," I said trying to get this off my chest before I chickened out, "I also see you in...that way...a lot actually."

"In what way?" he said, blank faced.

"Okay either you are dense or fucking with me," I said slightly aggravated, "I can't even look at you and not have pervy thoughts, you are freaking hot for christs sake! I just wanna throw you somewhere and do things to you...there."

I could feel my face heat up and was pretty sure I would now glow in the dark because my blush was so intense. A smug grin appeared slowly on his face as he looked at me. I frowned. Of course he was messing with me. Why did I have to step into that trap, and here I thought I was going to avoid the words 'sex, 'rape', chains, ropes, bed, now', and the like? This day was going somewhere...fast.

"Is that so?" he said inching closer, stopping just short of kissing me.

Feeling the hot breath on my face, and blood rushing to all the wrong places, I backed up against the wall. He followed me and placed his hands on either side of my head, giving the I want you but here is a chance to escape image. I really wished I could become part of the wall at this moment in time, because it took ever ouce of me to keep from jumping him in the hall. I swallowed hard and just sat there with the doe eyes stuck in a set of headlights look while slowly nodding my head. I quickly darted out from under him and sped to my room, which probably wasn't the best idea I had. Just as soon as I passed through my door I was picked up by _him. _I very much wanted to be sat back down on the ground so I could escape but I was gently sat down on my bed with ease, nothing rough or sexual.

My breath was still being held somewhere inside of me, probably afraid it was the last one I would have for a while. I lay there wondering, mind reeling before I closed my eyes forcefully and concentrated on calming down.

"What is a matter?" he asked.

"Oh just the fact I nearly...um...nothing," I quickly said, " I don't understand."

"I have no intention of letting this thing get me," he scowled, "No matter how much it pains me."

I didn't know what to say or do, part of me defiantly wanted him and the other part was still I guess glad he didn't choose that. I was touched that he would endure something like this for me, lord knows I did for him. I smiled at the thought and knowing that, I could safely say the next few words.

"What if I want you to," I said looking at him.

He scowled deeper, "That isn't a question I want to answer."

"Then it won't be a question then, just a choice," I said raising up and quickly capturing him with my lips before he could react. Pulling back I searched in his eyes before speaking, "You know mine, what is yours? I will not regret anything that happens here, just know that."

He stood there for a moment, not saying anything or showing any emotion. I was worried about him.

"If it is about the clan, I understand," I said, "I won't do anything you can't...or won't do. I mean that is if I-"

I was cut off by his lips pressing against mine. It was light at first but he pushed slightly forward, deepining the kiss and forcing me slightly back. I would have fallen if it wasn't for the fact his arm curled itself around my waist. One of my hands snaked its way around his neck so I could brush my fingers through his hair and the second arm trailed down his shoulder and chest, resting on his abdomen. I parted my lips and slowly licked at his lower lip, hoping he would get the hint, and like magic, clockwork, or as if on cue, he parted his lips and I began to taste him. Even kissing him was calming, but just as exhilarating. Right now I wanted nothing more than to know everything about him, heart, body, soul, and mind. I suppose this is what people call passion, or something else. He moved me so I was laying on the bed yet again and using his hand to unbranded my hair as he moved away from my lips and down my neck, stopping to nip the sensitive skin. My breath hitched and there was a warm sensation spreading all over my body as his free hand moved up the loose material of my over sized shirt. My mind was becoming a haze with all his soft touches, nips, licks, and kisses he was planting on me but I did realize my door was still open.

With what little brain function I had left I removed my hand from his lower back and pointed, "Door."

He stopped and sighed before getting up and walking, very sexily I might add, to the door and shutting it gently. Upon returning, he discovered that his skirt like covering had been undone and was laying at the side of the bed and his pants were loose. Not that I was complaining, but apparently my pants were not doing so well either. The string was missing and they were already halfway down my legs. Neither one of us remember beginning to undress the other, so I joked about how the clothes knew better and were 'abandoning ship'. We continued the kisses and caresses until we realized there was nothing but undergarments keeping us covered, and by what was poking me, I needed to speed things up a bit.

Neji slightly backed off, "Are you sure, I don't know how much longer I can hold on."

I rolled my eyes and quickly rolled us over so I was on top of him. Looking down I smiled, "I don't think I have ever been more sure...Just try and stay still or I am chaining you to the bed."

"Why?" he asked me before a smile on my face caused him to tense up.

"You will see," I smirked.

Before long I found myself trailing kisses down his abdomen, stopping only to nip at his sharp hips. He was already panting and moaning, with the attention I was giving him, which turned me on even more, if that were possible. Soon I found myself removing his undergarments(1). When I stripped him of his last article of clothing, seeing as how my undergarments vanished off me and I couldn't see them on my floor, I began to ghost my hands over his sensitive skin before mentally preparing myself. Not that it wasn't a huge turn off or anything, but I really felt wierd thinking about doing this, much less doing it. I slowly began to wrap my lips around him, though I had to hold him down to prevent him from bucking and choking me. I continued with having my way with him, using my mouth and got the most beautiful moans, sighs, and gasps from him. Each one sending chills down my spine. He even tried to thread his fingers through my hair to message my scalp but in his enthusiasm, pulled my hair once too many and now his arms were tied up with a scarf that so conveniently appeared on my bed.

"K-Kori!" he gasped, "I...um.."

With a slight popping noise of me releasing him I looked at him with mischievous eyes.

"Yes?" I asked innocently with a bit of my impish undertones seeping in.

"Please?" he panted.

Normally I wouldn't think twice about telling a horny teenager to go fuck himself for asking me that, but this was Neji, and the thoughts of Neji doing certain things made it very hard not to do certain things. I got the jist of what he was saying and quickly undid the series of knots keeping his hands restrained. Not a moment later I found myself on my back with him looming over me. He captured me with his lips while his nails lightly trailed down my sides. His hands trailed farther south and his hand found its way to its destination rather easily. I would have screamed but thankfully my mouth was occupied by his. His silky hair trailed on my skin as he captured a nipple into his mouth sucking on it and teasing it with his teeth. It wasn't too long after that I had to hold my breath to keep from disturbing the others as his fingers began to move withing me, trying to get my body prepared for something else.

Thankfully for myself, I was not one to be foolish, I kept a box of certain objects within a drawer of the nightstand(2). As quickly and carefully as I could, I managed to fish one out, and at that moment I was immensely thankful because his fingers were now being replaced by a very skilled tongue. This boy defiantly had a way with his mouth, words and otherwise. Biting my lip to try and prevent the loud moans, few muffled ones escaped, he began tasting me. When I believed I could not take anymore, thankfully, he stopped. He rose up and planted a kiss on me while looking at the small wrapper I had in my hand. Smiling he gently took it and began placing the small object on himself. _Thank god for curious spells and sex ed._ I thought to myself as he carefully placed himself between my legs.

"Ready?" he whispered soflty.

"Yes," I told him, voice becoming raspy due to lack of breathing, sniffled screaming, and more.

With that, he carefully slid himself into me. I was expecting pain, but there wasn't any, a slight uncomfortable feeling sure, but no pain. This defiantly answered my previous question. When he saw the look on my face he asked if I was alright. I rolled my eyes at him and told him that he should be moving. He was slow at first, getting used to the feeling, but soon he found the right pace and the right angle to make me want to suffocate myself with the pillow to keep from disturbing the dead at Konoha Memorial. I was pretty sure my _muffled_ moans could now be heard by my sis and Shikamaru. Though I was pretty sure between my moans I heard someone else having issues next door but hell my mind couldn't think for the moment. With every thrust he made I was seeing stars, or space, either one would do. When his pace picked up before he finally gave out to his own orgasm. I wasn't sure where mine started and stopped to be honest.

Panting heavily I began to stroke my hand through his hair, "Where...the...fuck...did you learn that?"

"Naruto, as a joke stole Kakashi's Icha Icha book and gave it to Kiba to hide, Kiba then gave it to Lee to embarrass him, and after Lee dropped it after passing out I read some of it. That and Gai sensei is weird, I had to go through this week long training program where we did nothing but read up on anatomy. Some things caught my eye and I thought I would read more about them," he said.

"All THAT from reading," I said getting wide eyed, "Any practice?"

"I was bound and determined to become the best," he smirked.

"We fuck, you really did mean everything didn't you..." I said in a daze forgetting he never answered my question.

Sleep then began to take us as we cuddled under the covers and took a much needed nap. After we woke up I was hungry and went to the kitchen to discover Yuki of all people browsing through the fridge. She took one look at me and threw the nearest object.

"What the fuck!" I said dodging something shiny when the light hit it.

"It is your fault," she yelled, "After you and Neji disappeared, Shikamaru and I heard some noises and when I tried to check it out he jumped me and did his shadow justu and erm."

She blushed in the light, or at least I could tell she was blushing, there isn't much light that comes from a fridge.

"So how was it?" I asked grabbing leftover noodles.

"Great, yours?" she said grabbing some fried rice and chicken.

"Epic," I smiled as we ate together.

When I looked at the clock it was close to ten at night, so I had to get my butt back into bed. We both brushed our teeth and with that told one another goodnight. I found myself back in bed with a certain talented ninja who I was now thoroughly bound and determined, if I wasn't before, to keep.

* * *

1. Like hell am I going to say what he is wearing. Boxers, briefs, boxer-briefs, it is up to the reader what he is wearing. Be it sexy, or be it funny...

2. Yes they do use condoms, cuz I say so (you should too). There are a million things that could go wrong, not saying anything but chakra is not a 'magic' substance to prevent characters going preggo (tehehe my word for pregnant) or other reasons (I am not here to give you lessons). Neji will NOT NOT NOT become a father at 16-17.

* * *

**River: **okay readers this awaited chapter is up and ready to be read. Not really anything to say here other than writers block wanted to get me during the sex scene that is why there is only one and not two.

Love it, see something that needs work or improved. Review! 

****Disclamier: I do not own Naruto, for obvious reasons. I do own Kori and Yuki though *mwhahaha*...


	19. Chapter 19: Morning After

Morning wasn't what I wanted to greet me as the sun brightly filtered through my curtains. I groaned slightly and turned to snuggle closer to the new 'bed warmer'. My eyes fluttered open and adjusted to the lighting as I saw the most beautiful and hilarious thing in my life. Neji Hyuga with massive bed head. A small smile tugged at my lips as I tried my best not to wake him as I sat up and propped up on my left arm. Either he was still blissfully asleep or was faking it in hopes of not wanting to come back to reality. Well what mattered now was a shower, or at least brushing my teeth. I was so not comfortable to face him with morning breath!

I slowly climbed out of bed and found the large shirt I was wearing tossed across the room. Not bothering with finding my missing undies from last night, I got a fresh pair out of the drawer, along with a fresh set of clothing. I then quietly exited the room and sought a hot shower. Turning on the spray, I stripped back down and settled myself in perfect zen hot shower. Feeling the tense muscles and apparent new bruises ease themselves, I worked on getting the knots out of my own hair. Though I would never complain, those knots were victory badges for all I am concerned with. Not everyone has sex, and defiantly not with Neji. I could feel the 'I just done it' smile beginning to plaster, and try to remain on my face. Sighing, I finished my quick shower and got dressed and brushed my teeth, new thoughts forming into my head.

_Well what if he thinks this is rape? __**He wasn't complaining last night.**__ What if he hates you? __**I will remind him otherwise. **__What is his family going to say? __**Wonderful, a perfect dire, need to be answered, dreaded, I can't come up with an answer question...Damn you brain...Shut up.**_

I quickly darted into my room and hoped that he was still there, or I would be most pissed. I could understand some of his actions if he did, but it still hurt to not wake up next to the one you just practically gave yourself to. Well, let me rephrase that, wake up and talk to the one you just gave yourself to. I could feel a slight headache forming and I pinched the bridge of my nose for good measure. When I entered my room, he was still there, asleep. Half of me was worried he was in a coma, the other half of me was worried he wasn't going to speak to me again. _Well, might as well get this elephant out of the room. I wonder how Yuki is fairing?_

**Yuki's POV**

As I woke I could hear the shower running. Thoughts of what happened last night flooded my memory. God I was going to kill her. _No, it was just an insane dream...it __had__ to be. There would be no way..._I thought as I tried to move and stretch out. As soon as I did I felt the weight of another person next to me. My eyes went wide, it wasn't a dream. It was real and he is next to me. I felt Shikamaru shift around in his sleep. My heart beat a mile a minute and I had to fight myself to keep from squeaking or jumping out of bed. _Okay you are still asleep._ I thought as I pinched myself, and the stupid idea reminded me that I was awake and now my arm hurt.

I climbed out of bed slowly, well tried to anyways, but when my warmth left Shikamaru, he instantly grabbed me and held me to his chest! I held my breath as I looked up at him in the dimly lit room. He mumbled something that I couldn't quite make out. So I sat there, plotting. Someone was going to pay for my awkward morning. I smiled to myself as I began plotting...

**Kori's POV**

I could hear the Hyuga mumbling something as I watched his body begin to move and rise out of bed. He looked the wall blankly before rubbing his eyes to remove the sleep in them. Slowly his head turned to where I would have been in bed. I could hear him sigh and mumble something as I stood in the doorway. I braced myself for verbal impact as I spoke up.

"Morning," I said trying to casually start conversation, "If you are wondering if last night was real..."

He narrowed his eyes at me. I just knew I had fucked up. He saved _that_ particular stare for those who were most annoying; Lee, Kiba, Naruto, and the list went on. I swallowed slowly and instantly looked at the floor. I was sure he was going to flay me alive. _Well time to face the music, _I thought as I slowly made my way over to the bed. I probably looked like the puppy being scolded for chewing on someone's favorite pair of shoes. I used my hand to undo the towel twisted in my hair so a curtain of hair could form between us as I tried to look back up.

"I see," he said softly.

"I know I am sorry!" I blurted out, "You looked so in pain and I should not have taken advantage of you. There was no reason for me to be so careless and using you in that state. You said yes but you weren't actually in your full sound mind and I should have known better. If you want to kill me I understand and if you hate me I will make sure that I apologize formally before disappearing from your life."

I was grabbed instantly and blinked; finding myself on my back on my bed. I blinked again and found myself starring at him.

"Calm down," he said, "If anyone should be freaking out, it should be me."

"Oh god, your family is going to kill me!" I said panicking, "Oh crap, Tsunade is going to kill me, Yuki is going to kill me-! "

I was cut off my a harsh kiss telling me to shut up. Once my brain was thoroughly fried, Neji backed off. I looked up at him with a look of confusion, I really wasn't sure what to think. He sat back down on the bed and crossed his arms letting out a huff of annoyance. Thinking about my reactions, I probably should have just crawled back under the rock I metaphorically lived and just died. Screw pride, wherever that bitch was, it had long since died and was probably being drug off along with my sanity.

Trying to calm down and having the ability to calm down are two different things. I might just as well killed Naruto and help Sauske well...okay maybe it wasn't that bad. Though Hyuga clan is one of the founders of Konoha and I pretty much just deflowered, using the term _very _loosely, the prince. He may have been a Bunke, branch member, but his uncle was the head of the Soke, main house. I was dead, beyond dead, dead, resurrected, slain, spirit captured and sealed away dead. I was still lost in my thoughts when a certain Hyuga cleared his throat.

"Please calm down," he said, "I don't want to have to do this to you."

"Eh?" I said, snapping back into reality,"Do what?"

He moved his hand to rest it gently against my cheek. He then took his middle finger and pressed it lightly agaist the skin behind my ear, where my jawline met. When he increased the pressure I began to get light headed and dizzy. Before I passed out however, he released the pressure and sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"I was hoping to calmly talk to you this morning but it would seem that you are over excited," he said smoothly.

"Sorry, it is just that this doesn't happen everyday and um I am worried that is all. I am sorry that I am easily excitable. I am just not used to this," I said after most the feeling of my body came back.

"I remember everything," he said before swallowing and blushing,"Did you really mean what you said?"

"About not regretting anything?" I looked at him,"I would not have said it if I didn't mean it. I do not lie and I really don't plan on starting now. To be honest it really was the best night in my life. Hell I am pretty sure if I was reincarnated nothing could compare."

After the thoughts of me being murdered by people I knew, figuratively of course, died down it donned on me I had a naked Neji in my bed. I suddenly felt very overprotective of him at this point. I just realized that I would have to fight gay men everywhere to protect his perfect ass. Kami did right with that one. Secondly I was going to have to fight rabid fangirls over him anyway, and if they so much as looked at him in a less than chaste way I was going to tear their eyes out.

"I suppose I should shower," he said, "After that we should talk more."

He climbed out of the bed in his full glory and damn it all to hell if I had to look away to keep from pouncing him again. This guy had to be made from the most awesome stuff out there, not that I knew what it was, but damn. Constantly reminding myself that he was not a bunny and could not go at it twenty-four-seven would defiantly go high on my list of mental checklists. I really didn't notice I was starring intently until I felt the ground move and my face come in contact with the floor. I could hear him chuckle as he tried to look around for his pants.

"Am I that attractive to you?" he asked.

Aside from noting to hide all his clothes when he was with me just so I could stare, though I would have to work on the mental focus of mine, I looked at him.

Rolling my eyes, "No, you just have a permanent 'rape me' sign on your back. I was just wondering how to take that thing off."

"Careful, you stare too long and you will go blind," he said finding his pants.

"Don't worry, I still have guy clothes in the third drawer for you to borrow. It is only t-shirts and shorts though. Maybe you can find a pair of boxers in there," I said before he could question, "As for going blind, I can see through people's eyes, so it is a chance I am willing to take."

"Now you read minds," he smiled.

"I have always been able to, you just didn't realize I _always_ do it. As for 'why do you have boxers?' Well occasionally it is fun to be a guy for a day, and they are so much more comfy than most girls underwear. Gives one a different perspective. No, I do not make it a habit and no I do not use the transformation jutsu. Though that gives me ideas," I said trying to focus on my 'scene' wall.

"I will just leave you alone on that one," he mumbled.

"Hey you are the one who fell for crazy," I bit back, though there was little spite or venom in my words, "Should I just tell you all my skeletons that rest in the closet of mine?"

"Anything more bizarre than cross-dressing?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

I thought for a moment, filtering all the really weird stuff I like before answering, "Nope, nothing too out there. Though men in tights really does it for me."

He frowned at my grin before tossing what appeared to be a shoe at my head. I just sat there and giggled.

"I will let Gai-sensei and Lee know," he said before shutting the door, preventing me from retaliating.

Pouting I sat there for a moment, debating on if I should accidentally turn on some cold or hot water nearby to change the temperature of his shower, but I thought against it. Climbing off the bed I decided breakfast was in order, since it was now six o'clock in the morning.

**Yuki's POV**

I had just managed to untangle myself from Shikamaru when I heard the shower start again. Sighing to myself I began to try and get dressed. After finding some clothes I nudged Shikamaru awake and he sat there and yawned for a moment. Flipping on the light I heard him curse and throw a pillow over his head.

"Oh no!" I said yanking the sheets off him, "You will not be lazy! That and you should talk to Kori this morning."

Though it was nice to see him in the morning, Shikamaru wasn't a morning person. He rose up and blinked feeling the cold rush of 'morning' air no doubtfully hitting more sensitive areas. I quickly turned around and headed for the door. It was tempting to see the expression on his face but after last night, I couldn't look him in the eye.

"Why am I naked?" he asked slowly.

"Talk to Kori," was the last thing I said before fleeing my room and shutting the door.

I made my way to the kitchen to find Kori starting breakfast. Some eggs, pancakes, and bacon(1). She was smiling and was about to pour in the eggs to scramble them after she finished the bacon. I cleared my throat and she turned around.

"So," I said clicking my tongue against my teeth.

She backed away and was now using the bowel as a shield, "No broken bones."

"Nope," I said walking towards her, "I will finish breakfast. _You_ deal with Shikamaru."

"Chicken shit," she muttered as she set everything down, "I knew this was going to bite me in the ass."

"It is your fault they ended up like that," I said smiling sweetly, "Now deal with the consequences."

"Yeah but if the words forget, sex, naked, or anything like that appear in conversation-" she started before I cut her off.

"Nope, I am not responsible," I waved her away.

"Oh hell Yuki, seriously if you really didn't want it to happen it wouldn't have!" she said throwing up her arms, "You could have put him to sleep, or something! It is just as much _your_ fault as it is mine. So I am not dealing with an irate Nara if it boils down to it. He is your boyfriend."

"He is not-" I started to yell.

"Oh really," she smiled, "Well if he is just your friend I do so hope with benefits now ties in with that because it sounds like you want him dating someone else. I didn't know you did _those_ things."

There is a point in time where you wish you could kill that one person causing you stress. I had hit that point. She was absolutely right and I hated it. I didn't want to deal with this right now. If it wasn't for the fact he was still in my bed, less than clothed, I would have pegged it all as a dream. God why did Kori have to be smart all of a sudden. I clenched my teeth and calmly took a deep breath. Either that or she was going to be missing a few body parts if my anger got the better of me. If that happened I would feel like crap.

"Just-get-it-done," I said trying not to yell.

She winked, "As you wish."

**Kori's POV**

After feeling the full scale epic daggers she was trying to impale me with using her eyes alone, I figured it was best to stop teasing her. Though my getting them together plan did not have making them sleep together anywhere on that list. I suppose I should feel the tiniest bit guilty. Well all now known issues aside, I decided it was best to keep those two away from one another at this point. She was furious that she had let herself be, well herself. I suppose I could be empathetic right now but staying away from her mind seemed a bit more than a tad healthy. Sighing I went back to find Shikamaru in her room still, thankfully dressed. He was sitting on the bed with his usual 'thinking' posture.

I gently tapped on the frame, seeing as how the door was open anyway. He looked up and sighed.

"Hey don't kill the messenger," I said raising my hands up, "So questions?"

I was hoping to get all this past me at this point and really wanted things to go quickly and smoothly.

"What happened?" he asked.

"Well do you want the high points or the whole story?" I asked walking in and leaning against the wall.

"Whole story," he said.

I wanted to smack myself for giving him that option. Why, _why, why, why, _was I the one to have to do this. I exhaled and began starting from the beginning of yesterday. Thankfully he remembered up to the point where he was locked in the room with Yuki. I then went over very little detail and quickly got to the point of what happened with me and Neji, skipping over the personal details. Then I explained what must have happened with him and Yuki, all the time looking at his face seeing if he was about to flip out. When I finished my story he sat there for a second before laying back on the bed.

"Seriously?" he asked, "How troublesome."

"I am so sorry," I apologized, "If I knew anything-"

He stuck up his hand to stop me, "There isn't anything you could have done. I suppose an awkward conversation is in order."

"Oh no," I said stopping him, "She is beyond pissed. If I were you, I would stay out of her way."

"Well I can't do that," he said pushing me aside.

I was very tempted to stop him, but more tempted to see how things were going to play out. I followed him toward the kitchen, though was momentarily stopped when a freshly showered Neji entered my view. Instead of stopping, I just grabbed him and dragged him behind me. When we stopped, I noticed Yuki already aiming with hot frying pan. I released Neji and dove behind the island only showing the top of my head as I narrowed my eyes at her.

"Throw it and I will kill you," I said.

"Make my day," she said.

"Stop using me as target practice," I snapped, "If everything nice that happens to you causes me pain, I will just lock you in your room for all eternity."

"Try it," she said inching closer.

"Don't tempt me woman!" I said popping out of my hiding spot, only to duck down in time to avoid the swing.

"Hold still!" she commanded.

"Like hell!" I said avoiding another swing and catching her arm, "Okay what is really bothering you."

"Let go!" she said pulling away, almost pulling me over the island.

"Yo! Don't knock over breakfast!" I said letting go and going around the island.

"Don't come near me!" she said backing up.

"Oh please," I scoffed, "Spill it before I make you."

The pan was thrown, and caught right before my hands were reminded they couldn't withstand lots of heat. I cursed as I dropped the pan into the sink and shook away the sting. I sighed while running my hands under cold water for a second before inspecting the wounds. They weren't bad but if I didn't fix it, it would surely be a second degree burn. Using my green pigment I began healing my hands while sitting down ignoring her. After they were healed I washed of the residual pigment left on my hands before they stained green. Whatever her problem was, fighting or ignoring it wasn't helping.

"What do you want?" I asked her while grabbing a plate.

She turned away from me and continued eating her plate she made while I was healing. I just sat down and ate in silence. When I was finished I washed the dishes and told Neji to wait in my room. Before walking down the hall I turned to face her.

"It is scary I know, but not talking about it is only making it worse. Good thing I can handle that temper of yours," I said, "Now Shikamaru would like to peacefully speak with you. I doubt it is a conversation meant for me to hear, so I gotta go finish talking with Neji. Please, just talk. If it is an apology you want, I don't know if it is my place to give one, since none of this could be helped more or less. By the way, I don't think he thinks any less of you if that is what you are worried about."

A small kunai being thrown at me told me that was what was on her mind. Ducking out of the way I smiled to myself as I heard the words 'evil mind reader spawn thing from hell' coming from her. I suppose I had that one coming but still, I was upset that she took her fear out on me. Sometimes she was worse than I was but most the time she was the responsible one, so I guess this little argument shouldn't be seen as anything really bad. After making my way into my room I looked at Neji who was currently stealing my hairbrush to fix his hair.

Looking up through the curtain of hair he had managed to make he began speaking, "What was that all about?"

"Oh, Yuki just has moments of vicious intent sometimes. Don't let it bother you, she only gets that way with me if it is something really important. She was just scared that is all, though comparing her to a forest critter would not be a correct description. I think she will be better after her conversation with Shikamaru," I said sitting down on the bed, "So talk?"

"My family is about as traditional as one could get. Stuff like what happened last night is entirely against the rules of my clan. Though neither one of us regret what happened, I am not sure that my clan will agree to what just happened, especially if there were drugs involved. If Lord Hiashi hasn't found out already, he would soon. I think it would be best if we told him before things got out of hand. Unfortunately there are very few secrets kept from my uncle. Especially if it involves the clan directly," said Neji.

"So when you say traditional, you mean arranged marriages, virgin 'till marriage, the whole thing?" I asked.

"Yes, though exceptions are made with strong shinobi. Though they may not be part of the clan itself, if one shinobi proves to be exceptional my clan would overlook that fact. There have been few cases where marriages outside the clan have been approved. Before you start freaking out, I am not asking. I am just informing you of what may come up in conversation after Lord Hiashi finds out." he said noticing my face.

"Yeah if he doesn't kill me first," I said palling,"Great thing to talk to your uncle about. 'Hey Lord Hyuga I drugged your nephew and slept with him last night, so how is the weather?' Yeah I see that going over well. God my life is really great and really sucks now."

I fell back on the bed sighing, wishing I could crawl under a rock. There was no way in hell I wanted to deal with a pissed off Hyuga member. I shuddered at some of the first thoughts of Hiashi's reactions that came to mind. Then some crazy idea donned on me. I roze up and looked over my shoulder and narrowed my eyes at Neji.

"Wait if your family is traditional, does that mean you get multiple wives or something?" I asked trying to kill the smile trying to fight its way up.

"No!" he said surprised before he heard the held back snicker, he rose his eyebrow and scowled, "Not funny."

"Sorry," I said still snickering a little, "Couldn't help myself. Might as well get the awkward questions out of the way before I see your uncle. Which I don't have a choice in it whatsoever. That look you are giving me says 'submission if possible, by force if necessary'."

"Nice phrase," he smiled before I was pulled back into his lap, "Where did you learn it?"

The sudden closeness caught me off guard and I found myself instantly blushing, "J-just came t-to mind!"

"So you still can blush," he smiled before inching closer, "I wonder..."

Before he could get any closer to me I found myself at the foot of my bed blushing madly and trying to hide behind a random object that appeared in my hand. Neji then began laughing. I frowned, though with him laughing harder after that, I suppose it was a pout.

"Not funny," I said throwing a small stuffed animal at him.

"That was payback for earlier," he said, "So what is your sister up to?"

"Hiding in her room or something like that," I said, "Knowing her Shikamaru probably had to tie her down to keep her still. Hey wait, does this mean we are going out now? Like in dating one another."

"It would seem so," he said while smiling.

**Yuki's POV**

I could look everywhere, but look him in the eyes. My mind was still reeling about last night. So I decided to look down and try and busy myself with anything nearby.

"Kori told me what happened," he said.

"Oh, she did," I said, face starting to tingle with all the blood rushing up to it.

"She didn't go into too much detail but about halfway through the story I figured it out," he said.

"S-so?" I gulped.

"Your sister was right, I don't hate you, or think any less of you. Look my parents sure as hell didn't raise me to be that kind of guy, if you are curious. What happened, happened. It wasn't like you could control the situation. So look, I wasn't expecting things to move this quickly, and as troublesome as it is, if I don't ask you out my mother would kill me, slowly. Aside from not wanting to listen to that scream session, I like you. You are intelligent, not too pretty, defiantly not ugly, and even though you are probably scarier than my mom you seem to take it out on Kori," he said sighing, "So what is it you want to do? I doubt forgetting this would do either of us any good. Though I understand if you are a bit freaked out by this."

I wanted to smack myself right now. "Right now I want to forget how much of an idiot I have been. Kori was right, I take way too long in deciding things. I would have asked you out already if I wasn't so indecisive. I really like you alot to. You actually have some admirable qualities, even if you are lazy," I giggled a bit on the last word, "It would seem that this situation has us depending on one another more, or at least hoping the other will keep a secret if things don't work out well."

"If we take it slow," he said rolling his eyes and smiling, "I can't believe I am saying this. It should work out for us being together. God I am never hearing the end of it from either of my parents. What a drag."

"At least I am not some pathetic person," I smiled, "Wait, this means she wants to meet me. I mean other than the two minute conversations I have had with her in the past."

"Crap," he said crossing his arms and laying his head on them, "Yes, it does. Hopefully she will wait, but knowing her she will want to hear dates and other boring crap."

"She mentions children and I am leaving and never visiting her house again," I said, "Not that I have anything against them, just not now."

"If she mentions children now, I am moving out," he said.

"Well there is another thing we agree on," I said.

"Your sister has been awfully quiet," he said.

"Count that a blessing," I told him, "Neji has a way of calming her. If anything was going on she would just make lots of noise trying to be quiet."

"I did not want that mental image," he said raising up rubbing his forehead.

"What?" I said, "Perv, I was meaning she can't be...Oh never mind your head is too far in the gutter this morning."

Just about that time, Kori came out from the hallway accompanied by Neji. She mentioned that they were off to the Hyuga Compound and she would be back later, hopefully. I could tell she was really sweating over telling Hiashi what happened. I couldn't blame her. Though her conversations may end in violence, mine were just going to be plain awkward. So after those two headed out the door, I decided to get a shower.

**Kori's POV**

It was too late to back out now, I was at the Hyuga Compound. Though my eyes kept looking for exits, I knew if he said the word I would be hit so hard with the Gentle Fist my next five lifetimes couldn't mold chakra. That is if he didn't kill me first. We didn't even make it two steps in the door of the compound when an ANBU showed up and scared the bejesus out of me. After metaphorically peeling myself off the ceiling, I headed over to Tsunade's office, for another round of her yelling at us. I wasn't sure what was going to give out first, her voice or our hearing. When we made it to the office, Yuki, Shikimaru, Hiashi Hyuga _and_ Shikaku and Yoshino Nara were there. _Oh shit, great can life get anymore awkward? Please Kami, don't answer that..._

After we made it into the room I stood beside Yuki who was glaring at me, mouthing 'it is your fault' to me the entire time. Tsunade cleared her throat.

"It would seem that a most interesting report stumbled onto my desk late last night. Unfortunately I wasn't able to look over it until this morning. It says here that Neji Hyuga and Shikamaru Nara were checked in the hospital yesterday evening for unusual symptoms. It would seem that the experimental drug that was being confiscated yesterday accidentally made it into their systems," said Tsunade.

I however wasn't paying the least bit attention, I was totally focused on Hiashi's reactions. His eyes were hardened but his face was kept relatively blank. I was beginning to break out in a cold sweat and trying my best not to hyperventilate.

"Is there anything wrong with them?" ashed Yoshino.

"I have no idea, a simple test would tell if they have flushed the drugs out of their system. Kori was given the antidote to administer to them, so they should be perfectly normal," she said before walking away from her desk and motioning to the boys to step forward.

_Oh shit, I didn't give them the antidote. They are going to still have the drug in their system, oh shit. I am going to be accused of rape...oh shit..._

My mind would not stop thinking of worst case scenarios while Tsunade scanned thier bodies for the drug. A few moments past and I was about to pass out by now, she walked back over to her desk.

"They are clean," she said before signing a couple of documents.

The sense of relief I got never felt so good. Neji noticed my distress and stood a little bit behind me.

"They were not given the full dose of the drug but it would seem some residual amount still is inside them. It will not affect them anymore but it would seem an explanation is in order," she said zeroing in on me.

The only sylluable that I could manage was a squeak. Everyone turned and looked at me at that moment. Of all the times to keep my mouth shut, now was one I really wish I had of. I was sure that I was going to die of humiliation at that point in time. Thankfully Yuki decided to speak up.

"Well, things got out of hand. Kori did have the antidote but they became mindless zombies. So in an attempt to help, Kori went into Neji's mind and pulled him out of the trance but couldn't pull Shikamaru out because she still needs to build up her chakra and she was weakened by the experience," she said.

"She gave them the antidote and it had no affect?" asked Hiashi.

"No, they didn't get the antidote," I spoke up, "We were deciding on that fact when, um, Neji in his mindless state came up behind me and I was forced to go into his mind. After that I needed rest and I forgot about the antidote entirely. Then while resting, the symptoms got worse, so we separated them and some things happened."

"What sort of things?" asked Shikaku.

"Um, the kind that we were about to tell you about before we were ushered into the office," I gulped, my cheeks beginning to get warm, "I have something to tell you H-hiashi. Neji and I are um, together now, and um, I kinda-er-slept with him last night, when he was, um, under the effects. He was conscious because of my jutsu but um...don't kill me."

I could feel myself now standing four inches tall in that room with Hiashi looming over me. Even his eye was twitching.

"Let me guess the same thing happened to my son," said Shikaku.

"Uh-huh," said Yuki, joining me in blushing, "We are dating as well."

"Did you at least use protection!" yelled Tsunade.

"Yes, mom," I said, knowing the 'mom' part would antagonize her.

"Well at least you two are not total idiots!" she said slamming her fist down on the desk, "You two do realize what could have happened!"

"Yes, and it didn't," I said.

"Oh no, don't get snappy with me," she said pointing at me, "I will put you through a wall."

Hiashi stood there for a moment before turning to Tsunade, "Could I borrow my nephew and Kori for just a moment?"

"Don't break anything," said Tsunade, "All of you dismissed."

I followed Hiashi down the hall with Neji, practically dragging me behind him. He stopped and opened a door and grabbed and tossed me into it, Neji following though not in the same manner. Hiashi practically slammed the door behind him as he stared me down.

"So this was your true intention?" he asked narrowing his eyes.

"True intention? I don't understand," I said picking myself off the floor.

"Humiliating me in front of the Hokage, fellow shinobi from the village, and preventing Neji from marrying anyone more suitable in his future. It is because of you, there will be an even greater rift in the family. This is no doubt a disgrace to say the least. There will be sufficient punishment for you dealing with this...harlot!" said Hiashi raising his voice slightly.

Okay aside from the harlot thing, I could kinda see where he was coming from. It really wasn't the best way of saying hey your nephew lost his 'virginity', well the closest thing guys have to being virgins unless they are gay, to a ninja with no family other than her sister and came from god knows where. I tuned out the string of verbal abuse that was apparently aimed towards me, though some of the adjectives he was saying, I took notes on. A few seconds of him chewing me out I thought it was nice to stand up to one of the 'scariest men alive'.

"Listen!" I yelled, "I may not come from illustrious bloodlines, and yeah the circumstances are a bit less than the best that I am in. I am a strong kunochi, hell I survived days of your cousin tormenting me, and lived, hell I am even walking though my bones were splintered! I will be damned if I let and old man say what I can and can't do. Look here mister! I really, really care about Neji and I would do anything to protect him."

Hiashi looked at me for a moment, "You can't protect him from everything, the Juinjutsu he bares. You can't protect him from that."

"Watch me," I said looking him in the eye, having no idea where I found this courage, "I would enter your mind and do the same thing. You, other members of the Main House, anyone. It doesn't matter. I will erase the existence of the Juinjutsu from their memories, to them it will be like it never existed."

"Is that a threat?" said Hiashi.

"No, it is a promise," I said, firmly planting myself between him and Neji.

"Then there is nothing more I have to say," said Hiashi, now smiling, "Sorry about what I said about you. I can't just let anyone date my nephew."

At this point in time I was dumbstruck to say the least. My mouth was hanging slightly agape and I slowly turned toward Neji who was trying to make himself one with the wall. I licked my lower lip and clicked my tongue trying not to go off on him.

"And _you _called _me _crazy?" I said locking eyes with him.

Neji just sat there and blushed. As mad as I was at him, I couldn't blame him. I don't think he expected Hiashi to completely approve of me in that way. Sure he said I could hang out with him but not actually date him. Well at least my day was starting to turn out decent.

**Yuki's POV**

We had arrived at Shikamaru's house in complete silence. I was beginning to wonder what they thought. As we entered the house, Yashino escorted both of us to the living room and had us sit down. Now it was Yashino and Shikaku sitting opposite of me and Shikamaru. I bit my lip for a moment, hoping that one of them would break the silence. A few long moments passed and no one was talking, so I decided it was up to me.

"Look if you are asking if I took advantage of him, then the answer would be no. I think it was the other way around," I said trying to hide my blush.

"Just so we make this clear," said Yoshinio, "If you so much as ever think about hurting my baby boy, know this. Not even the ANBU forces would find your corpse if I even allowed you the mercy of death."

I looked at her with wide eyes then turned to Shikamaru he just sighed, "See, she is scary."

"I don't think you have to worry about that," I assured her, "If it wasn't for yesterdays events then we probably wouldn't have asked one another out."

Yashino let out a small laugh before turning to her husband, "Seriously, him too? Shikamaru, you are more like your father than you are willing to admit."

"Excuse me?" I asked.

"It took Shikaku a full three months before he asked me out. Though I am glad he did, it has been a wonderful twenty years being with him."

"Wait, that means," I said, pointing at Shikamaru, "You were like his age when you two started dating."

"I was, but Shikaku was in his twenties at the time," said Yoshino.

"Really?" I asked, "Wow so he was as old as I am now."

"How old _are_ you exactly?" asked Shikaku.

"Twenty one, since January twenty first," I told them,"Just one day shy of having the weird birthday thing like Neji and Kori have. Anyway, our memories about how old we are filled in a couple weeks ago."

"How old is Kori?" asked Shikamaru.

"She will be nineteen in November, third to be exact," I told him.

"I see," he said.

"Okay now that we have all the death threats past us," said Shikaku,"I suppose we should be seeing you around more often?"

"Yes," I said nervously laughing, "I suppose so."

"Well from the presents and things Shikamaru has been telling us, you and your sister have been taking care of Shikamaru," said Yashino, "There really isn't much else I can say."

Remembering Kori and the irritable look Hiashi was giving off I jumped up suddenly, "Um, I just remembered something."

"What?" asked Shikamaru.

"Just who exactly did we leave Kori alone with?" I asked Shikamaru.

"She is _your _sister," he said.

"Great, good to know I can count on you," I said teasing him.

" I know what kind of trouble she stirs, I want no part in it," said Shikamaru.

"Wait this is the same Kori that was invovled with Hakuro Hyuga?" asked Shikaku.

"One in the same," I said sighing, "She is just one of those people. You can't help but love her."

"I know another person like that," said Shikaku, "He made many enemies, but I know one day he may prove to everyone how great he is."

"Well I gotta get going," I said starting to leave, "Love to stay, but my sister may need help out of the hole she dug herself into."

* * *

1. Breakfast in Japan- There really isn't a 'traditional' thing for breakfast in japan. Most food places in Japan are only open during lunch and dinner hours so most people eat at home or if they are really busy, probably around 50% of people (random guess here) there are a few places you can pick up stuff. Convenient stores, mom and pop places for tourists, and a few chain places like Denny's, McDonalds, and Starbucks are dotted around Tokyo. You can pick up bento boxes, ongri (rice with various 'fillings'), and a few other things at convenient stores for 'on the go'. If you were at home, French crepes, omlettes, and sometimes Western breakfasts are popular but the most 'traditional' thing you could do is: Steamed rice, some form of fish (grilled/fried), Natto over rice (nato is really sticky and stinky from what I heard), miso soup, pickled veggies, and maybe some tea is as 'close' as you get, but not all at once! They eat a lot of protein and go easy on the rice so they aren't slowed down during the morning hours. It really also depends on where in Japan you are at. Everything there is Regional/Family/Personal thing. Though one of my older friends went to Japan in the 80's and said that coffee there was terrible, but a lot has changed in the times and I don't have any 'personal experience'.

As for the pancakes and eggs fried in bacon grease, it is a Southern thing (Southern United States) we also do something odd for other contries, we make white gravy. Dude it is awesome! That and Chocolate gravy. My grandmother usually makes that with buiscuits for breakfast if there is a lot of people and kids. The kids will eat it because it is sweet and it doesn't take much to feed a lot of people. The white gravy goes well with sausague and eggs, and if you are feeling a bit 'out there' Tomato gravy is a good addition to some eggs and bacon for a 'Tex-Mex' feel. If you put pancakes in bacon grease and it makes the pancakes nice and crisp and tasty as all get out. Sadly we Southern Folk know just about anything that goes with bacon grease and can deep fry things you really didn't know could be deep fried. If any of you wanna try some of the gravy listed you can PM me and I can get you the recepie for it...be warned however some of it is slightly more than addictive (I crave it sometimes..) but I guess it is because I grew up around it.

* * *

**Sukaretto Miyuki: **nah I wasn't pegging you as creepy 30, more like late teens early twenties. As for your mind and stuff in school, sounds just like me, but apparently all my 'straightforwardness' caused everyone to believe that I was something I wasn't. I just didn't pretend in school, didn't see the point in it, and if was wanted you to know something, I said it out loud, no sugar I am still friends with them. I found the 'thing' out about them a couple years ago, and I mean time helps but, it is still creepy now that I think about it. You got your wish, the chapter is named so. Thanks. (By the way my profile has been updated...-evil laughter*) Yeah, though I am perverted, full scale all out porn doesn't suit me. I like to leave enough for the imagination. Some stories written more graphically, I can't read, though I have tried. I mean there isn't anything in it for me, yeah sure I can see two characters 'going at it' but it loses that one indescribable feature that 'we', or in this case I, love in stories.

**Alpenwolf: **I promise I won't hurt myself. but for now I give. Maybe when the urge strikes me again, I will take another whack at it. Thank you for complementing me. Question was answered in this chapter, along with how old these two actually are...

**Malakye-Dragolf: **Welcome new review-er. Idk if they have been waiting a long time for it. I think the readers quite enjoyed the trip I have taken them on. Nothing about it came up until I actually asked them about it the chapter before hand. Yeah I kinda wanted it that way. It would seem a bit too OOC for Shikamaru and Neji if they were 'ready and willing'. Sorry but they are too serious for that. So I think I went and threw in something so we could sorta see the best of both worlds. People respecting their personalities are happy that I didn't stray too far, and those wanting _that_ sort of thing got what they wanted. I mean I don't mind a little OOC, but not full scale out of it. There is only so much I can take. Once someone writes them so far, the 'person' in question is just a shell, nothing more, not even a resemblance of whom they are trying to portray. I am not fully a picky elitist, but I draw the line somewhere.

* * *

**River: **Alright, sorry for the long wait, I have been at my wit's end with getting into college. So anyway, wrote it a bit longer to make up for no chappy. I also put in a little of this and that, hopefully the right combination of stuff. Though to be honest I could not tell you what kind of style I write, I know last chapter was lemon, but other than that. I couldn't tell you if this was fluffy, angst, or anything like that. Lol, I write fan fiction and I can't tell you the basics of styles...lol right now I fail at this point. I write apparently win stuff but as for knowledge overall I fail.


	20. Chapter 20:April Fools

It was now late March and ever since Hiashi found out about me and Neji, Neji was buried deep in family matters. Most of the family didn't mind that I was the one who he fell for, but others still needed convincing. So Hiashi had to work with Neji to keep the elders from marrying us on the spot after Valentine's Day, though Hiashi kept it very secret that Neji and I did more than just me taking care of him that night. After that situation was over, it was suggested that I begin to learn everything I could about the Hyugan Clan, though that didn't help the awkwardness. Thankfully not many people knew what I was really capable of and never questioned how things came easily for me. Though my Impressionism Jutsu had developed well, there were still a few odd kinks in it. Sometimes I could pick up things by brushing up against them and not meaning to read them. It was becoming annoying to not be able to mke skin contact with people without picking something up.

Yuki wasn't fairing any better, she would sometimes speak to people and they would just space out for a while, or until she snapped them back to reality. Other times people would just snap, either becoming angry, sad, unusually happy, or some other extreme emotional state. It was becoming such a problem that Tsunade even limited us on how long we could go out. Missions were strained, though our abilities were useful, sometimes things would just go wrong. Yuki would would sometimes lose her voice or it would amplify in the most inopportune moments. I on the other hand would be impersonating people and black out, waking up to Yuki, Tanzo, or sensei. There were a few times when my painting skills would go wrong. When trying to bind people with my orange, my violet would emerge and begin encasing them. On more than one occasion, capturing people, ended up with ANBU breaking them out of the hardened purple mass. My yellow would end up causing minor explosions and sometimes flames would follow. With that happening to us, both of us were put through hell with Tsunade's personal lessons she was now giving us.

Her lessons would range from repairing small glass objects, to larger scale things. It was mentally and physically exhausting. While she was still training Sakura, who was now a chunin, she decided to group us up together. Running for your life while trying to fix things, and keep from dropping others, and concentrating does not mix well. Tsunade has one hell of a temper and is bloody strong, mixed with the intent of actually trying to kill us, it was not a good combination. She made sure that we weren't overworked and kept our chakra levels low just in case there was something wrong. In the past month, Yuki and I could do almost anything with chakra now. When she believed that we had a good understanding of chakra control, she moved us back up to active status. The lessons helped us a great deal, but we still had a few quirks. The nightmares were still plaguing us sometimes and Yuki's screams would shake the house, or I would wake up believing I was someone else.

As March winded down however, we didn't let our problems get to us too much. Aside from being 'shut-ins' because of the 'condition' Tsunade made for us, our friends still visited us now and again. I was excited to say the least, but everyone else was a little skiddish to say the least. As the last week winded down I had already set up a list and hid the 'presents' I was going to give/do to everyone:

_Shino- sending him fly paper_

_Hinata- Naurto doll_

_Kiba- flavor his pants with jerky_

_Kurenai-have Asuma stand up her date_

_Asuma-replacing his smokes_

_Shikamaru- tell him to spend hte night_

_Ino- dye her hair green_

_Choji-explosive candy_

_Gai-'Fail Album'_

_Tenten-stealing her weapon scroll_

_Neji- kidnapping him_

_Lee-shredding his clothes_

_Sakura-rearranging her schedule_

_Kakashi-bleach his masks_

_Tsunade-pour drink mix in her sake_

_Sai-replacing his ink with disappearing ink_

_Yuki- -evil laughter-_

Sai, I had met while buying pigments in the art shop a few weeks ago. He was kind wierd but was surprised when I recognized him, though he hadn't known me long he wasn't safe. I prepared my things that I was going to give to everyone and then I was going to head out early. Though Yuki found out about my plans and kept stealing all my stuff, but that only slowed me down. I knew that they were going to be upset, but it was April Fools. The next day was going to be sweet.

I waited until Yuki was asleep before I went out on the nightly run to deliver all my presents and wait for everyone to wake up. Hopefully if things went smoothly then everything would be aright, though some people may not take the joke so well. After finishing my rounds, I managed to finally managed to be able to sneak in the Hyuga Compound at three in the morning. Thankfully I knew a few tricks up my sleeve but it still was heard to sneak past them. Though I was slightly afraid of sneaking into the Compound because the Bykugan was the one thing that still gave me trouble, hanging around for so long there, I could avoid the patrols in my sleep. After I managed to sneak into the Compound, I found Neji's room.

Trying to keep my laughter contained, while holding my breath, I gently crept into the room. Not making any noises, I tip-toed across the floor. When I was within pouncing reach, I began to prepare my tools to kidnap him and then began. Though when I got close to his arm to gently restrain him, my wrist was captured by his hand. I bit my lip to keep from jumping as he opened his eyes and glared at me.

"Morning," I whispered.

"You know you aren't supposed to be here," he whispered back.

"So?" I smiled, "When has that stopped me?"

"It _should," _ he said before releasing me, "The elders are still trying to figure out ways to deal with you. Thankfully Lady Hinata has pleaded with Lord Hiashi to speak on your behalf. Though what you did, may have proved something to him, the Elders will not be so convinced."

"So? They can't do anything to drive me away," I rolled my eyes.

"Don't be like that," he said sitting up, "You really don't know what you are getting into."

"Look isn't it _your_ duty to guard Hinata? If I am with you, it falls on me as well," I said, "Nothing too major. So maybe one day I will serve, but you really don't know how hard it is to stay away from you all the time."

"It has only been two weeks," he frowned.

"Two weeks of dateless, cuddless, talkless, boredem," I pouted.

"_Must _you be so impatient?" he asked sighing.

"You love me for it," I told him, "So since my kidnapping failed, what can I do to you."

"Please tell me the damage you caused today isn't permanent," he said pinching the bridge of his nose.

"No," I said, "Look, life lessons are going to be learned, well except for Kiba. His is because he stole my favorite choker last week and it just so happened to get chewed up by one of the pups who is teething."

"You two are going to kill one another one day," he said, "Now sneak back out and don't let anyone see you. I don't want a riot at family's home when the sun rises."

"No, but when Hinata wakes up, she may or may not scream," I said starting to walk away.

"_Why?"_ he asked slowly.

"Oh there is a doll of Naruto sitting at the end of her bed," I said moving faster.

"Remove it," said Neji, voice rising.

"Okay fine, I will scare her later. When everyone is conscious," I scoffed.

I did as he asked and I went home, I just managed to crawl into bed at five in the morning. Just about that time Yuki's high pitched scream scared the life out of me.

"KORI GET YOUR ASS IN HERE NOW!" she screamed.

Chuckling I crawled back out of bed and walked into Yuki's room. There still sleeping, though I can't imagine how that happened, was Shikamaru cuffed to Yuki.

"April Fools," I said, careful not to get within arms reach.

"Where are the keys?" she asked.

"What keys? You're a friggin' ninja and you want to know where the keys are?" I said raising an eyebrow.

About that time she broke them, they weren't the cheap kind either, hell I even managed to enhance them with my jutsu and she broke them. The next hour consisted of her threatening me with any ammo she could use for the rest of my life to make it hell if I did it again. I cleared my throat and looked at her.

"Listen missy, with the Chunin Exams coming up, Shikamaru has been really busy. You two haven't seen one another in a while. So I thought it would be nice for you to be attached for a day, though how you broke them I don't want to know," I said before clearing out before she really got violent.

Shikamaru followed me grumbling while removing earplugs from his ears, "You could have asked me over here."

"Yeah, but you and your girlfriend now can spend time together and you won't have to worry about being late. I have clothes here for you and everything," I said before getting a bag I brought from his house.

"And _how _did you do all this?" he asked taking the clothes before he paused, "Nevermind, I do not want to know."

"Well, Ino should be incoming in three, two, one," I pointed at the door and there was a loud banging.

I opened the door to find Ino there with half her hair green. She looked at Shikamaru but before she could say anything I stopped her and told her he didn't have any clue and all the chaos that would happen is my fault.

"Why green?" she asked.

"Well, it _is _warshable, just food coloring mostly. Here," I said giving her a bottle of something I already made up, "Use this, the shower is yours."

"But why _green_?" she asked again.

"Hey this is what you get for bitching about how you hated being blond. I would have gotten your scalp too but I was on the run. That and I didn't wan to wake you," I smiled, "I know. It was mean, I should feel guilty, but you need to know your hair is freaking awesome! Straight, smooth, shiny, and you are a kunochi and you still manage to keep your hair looking that great."

"Well I suppose," she said before walking off to the shower.

"Incoming Kiba," said Shikamaru moving out of his way.

I ducked as a irate Inuzuka dove over my head. There was still a large hole in his pants. I laughed as he began trying to beat the life out of me. A quick hand motion and a flash of orange had him hog tied in the living room.

"That is what you get for stealing my stuff," I said, "Those pants are made out of jerky, I just colored them differently. I thought you Inuzuka had great senses of smell."

"Yes we do, but three of the females have gone in heat and we are too busy finding them mates before the young bloods go nuts," he told me.

"Convenient," I said, "Truce?"

"Never," he narrowed his eyes.

"Fair enough," I said before releasing him.

"I will get you back," he said before walking out the door.

"Yeah, but next time, put on some pants when you come to my house," I said before putting on my shoes, "To keep chaos to a min, I am going to the park. Unless you desperatly want to know what I did to everyone, I would avoid me today."

Before I managed to make it to the park, I had visits from a few people. Kakashi, who had to quickly find an alternative to his now itchy masks, which I already had a box of brand new ones. I told him his other ones were so worn out, that if he wore them any longer people might actually see what he looks like. Shino quickly inquired why I had sent him 'fly paper' knowing he cultivated flying bugs. I told him I found a suitable alternative to the female insects natural pheromones, which wasn't easy to come by, to help them mate. It was on paper because he could hang them up or carry them on person without it hindering his movement. Choji came by with a few burn marks on his face, which told me I had to revise the 'explosive candy' recipe to make it safer. I told him that at the bottom of the container was special tickets for his favorite restraunt and the candy was just for show and was not ment to be eaten.

While at the park the entire Team Gai was quickly before me as I sat down on a bench. Neji just stood there shaking his head and slightly distancing himself from the rest of the group. From the looks of it, this trip wasn't on the agenda.

"Where is my weapon scroll?" asked Tenten.

I looked in my pockets and found the scrolls I needed before handing them to her, "Your scroll is at your house. Sorry for borrowing it without asking, but I converted these mini-scrolls for you so if you are captured, they can be conveniently stored in odd places like your hair buns, so you can still summon weapons. Yuki helped me with a bit of it, and it took me days to figure out the recepie for that type of paper."

"O-oh," she said, "That still doesn't mean you get away scott free. Lee and sensei are very upset."

"Crossing that bridge hun," I said looking up at them, "Alright. So Lee your clothes are shredded, for good reason. Gai, your "Fail Book" is what you are hear for. Correct?"

"How could such a young and-," started Gai.

"I got it. I am mean," I sighed, "Look, that book is for you and your students to remind you that you were not always great. From stories around town you had quite a hard time growing up. I wanted to give you something so when you are older you can still recall those memories. Though not perfect, they _are your memories. _It was a pain in the ass to do it without you noticing. The pictures shift two or three times, but other than that, there are wonderful stories behind each one. You should know if people think you are perfect, you would think less of yourself. You of all people know where egotism leads, I believe that is page ten..."

"Lee," I said turning to him, "Your clothes are a bit...small. I er, made this, well Yuki made it, I added the pockets and weaved some chakra in. My shield will protect you from fatal blows but it can't stop everything. If your opponent is strong then the binding will break and you will get hurt. So here, your new outfit."

"So you shredded my clothes for this?" he asked.

"Well I needed to see what size you were, and well I tried to fix some rips and I am not good with delicate stuff," I said looking away, "Look it is April Fools, I will lose my Chaos Cred if I be nice to everyone first. I just thought you guys needed some help and a reminder of stuff. Hell, if my chaos brings people together, I should do it more often."

"NO!" all four of them said.

Neji sighed, and began to walk off.

"Hey mister!" I stomped towards him before Lee caught me and wedged himself between us, "What is the deal?"

"I told you," he said while walking, "Lee my family is very strict when it comes to things. They ordered me to stay away from Kori. Thanks to you two, I have to be near her and not be able to talk to her."

"Lee," I said looking through him towards Neji, "Tell Neji that it will be okay. Silence is cruel but it won't drive us that far apart. I can still hang out with Hinata. He is still her guard, well he will be in the future. If I am still her best friend, then we can still see one another."

"I will make sure he gets the message," smiled Lee, "Sorry about what you are going through."

"Yeah, sucks," I said feeling a frown coming on, "Okay before I get all emo. There are still people who I haven't seen yet that I have terrorized. Sorry about not explaining things. I had a lot to do and little time. That and I didn't want to run around all day today just to prank people. Uh-oh. My Tsunade Senses are tingling..."

"What did you do?" asked Gai with a slight sympathetic look.

"Fruit mix in her drinks and I organized her paperwork," I said, "She should be well beyond pissed."

"You actually got into the Hokage's office and did all that while pranking the rest of us?" asked Tenten.

"You, Yuki, the rest of Rookie Nine, and a guy named Sai. Well almost all of Rookie Nine, Neji got away from the Chaos because family matters and Sasuke and Naruto aren't here," I said, "Took me all friggin' night. Shadow clones are beastly if you use them right."

"You should be locked up somewhere," said Lee warily.

"Dude, Yuki tells me that all the time!" I laughed.

"I wonder why," said Gai, "Alright team, we have a mission to start."

"Yeah, and I have somewhere else I gotta be," I said, "I still have to set up for Asuma and Kurenai."

"Please don't," said Tenten, "I heard they were kinda going through a rough patch."

"Oh no, thanks to Hinata I found out Kurenai's dream date and I am going to set it up for them. Give all credit to Asuma and hope they make ba- UP make up!" I corrected myself.

"No pranks?" asked Tenten.

"Oh no, Asuma is going to be delayed for a few minutes," I said, "This is the only one Yuki is actually helping me on, but ever since I cuffed her to Shikamaru, she may not be so willing to help."

"Why?" asked Lee.

"Oh missions and his teaching job has us at a hectic schedule, that and the hellish nightmare of training Tsunade put us through," I shuddered, "They haven't seen much of one another either. So I figured two birds one stone. She wasn't hapy. She even broke the reinforced, enhanced ones I got."

"Don't want to know," said Gai.

"Yeah, if you did I would call you a perv," I giggled before heading off back home. Hopefully the smoke would have cleared by now and I would be safe to enter.

When I got home, Yuki had calmed down a little and still was willing to help me, thank Kami. She was supposed to distract Asuma, it was going to be sweet. I grabbed everything I needed, changed clothes, took a shower, ate, and headed out to set everything up. Thankfully I was quick because none, too soon I was almost clobbered by Sakura. She was pissed that she wasn't able to attend her duties at the hospital, but I told her that she was working herself to hard and I actually got her to stand in front of a mirror, god knows how long ago the last time she did that. After she saw herself, she still beat me over the head before saying thank you after I gave her some spa tickets for the day.

After setting up, I went to where Kurenai was supposed to be waiting on Asuma. Sure enough she was there, looking rather upset that she was waiting on Asuma. I told her that she needed to come with me because Asuma cancelled thier date at the restraunt and left with her. Halfway to the area I set up, Asuma was looking very ashamed as he caught up with us. When he spotted me, he was slightly taken back.

"Hey Asuma, I got Kurenai for you. Now if you two will follow me, Asuma has something to show you Kurenai," I said while escorting both of them.

There on a hill there was a little picnic setting that had a few snacks and Kurenai's favorite food. There wasn't anything cheesy like candles or flowers, except for the single violet that was attached to the basket that held the food. The hill itself overlooked Konoha slightly and you could see the Academy from there. That way she could watch the children as they got out of school. Though in my mind it was just her 'hinting' at Asuma. I just kept my mouth shut and looked on as she looked up at Asuma. She just smiled as I lef the two alone so they could have thier date.

On the way back home, I stopped by Hinata's to give her the Naurto doll but instead of my form, I took Naurto's. I found her at the training ground practicing her jutsu. Popping out of the bushes she neary had a heart attack.

"N-naruto!" she said instantly getting red.

"Not exactly," I said giving her the doll and transforming back, "Look, to help you a bit. Since you still don't have confidence to talk to Naruto, yet, I will work with you to help you get used to him. I know it isn't the same but every little bit helps."

"Thank you?" she said taking the doll.

"Yeah, I heard from Lee what was happening here," I sat down, "Sucks. So am I forbidden from talking to you and stuff?"

"N-no, but I can't help you in any way, neither can Hanabi," she said, "Father said it would be too dangerous to help you. It is also wise not to try to bring anyone into this."

"I will keep that in mind," I said frowning, "That just makes my life harder. I mean things will be difficult, but I don't plan on creeping around at night just to see him. Before you ask, don't. I understand that you want to help, but I think I should just grin and bear it for right now. Time will tell if things go south or not. So yeah, I am going to stop my Sai's for a minute. He should have gotten my present by now."

"Sai?" she asked.

"A fellow artist," I said, "If I knew it wasn't going to be used as ammo, then I would say more, but no telling what other things are creeping around here."

I told her goodbye and then headed over to Sai's. I caught him just getting home, though he looked a bit worse for wear.

"Hello," he said emotionlessly.

"Hey, I was wondering if you got my ink," I told him.

"Yes, and I wondered at first if it was defective because it faded. Then it came back, most unusual."

"Disappearing ink, I am working on making it better. I thought since you were into the 'covert' stuff that you may like it. Sorry I didn't tell you sooner, but today is April Fools," I said.

"The holiday of pulling pranks on people," he said, "I suppose refusing to tell me the ink was disappearing was the prank."

"Yeah, but don't think that this is a habit. I am a bit of a prankster but I am usually nice," I said before turning to leave, "I can't stay long. So I will see you soon."

"I suppose so," he said shrugging and unlocking the door.

"New things are heading your way," I said before leaving.

I arrived home after stopping by Tsuade's office and quickly running away when Tsunade began trying to pummel me for messing with her stuff. After I got home, I decided to relax. As I sat down on the couch, however, there was a knock at the door. I answered and was given a scroll by someone before they quickly left. I opened the scroll and shut the door.

_The Hyuga Clan would like to formally request the presence of Kori, of Konoha immediately. There are a few matters to discuss regarding your involvement with the family. Please inform someone that you may be requested to say a few days while the matters are being resolved. If you should need anything, it would be wise to bring it with you. You are also required to come alone, escorts will be shown away at the gate. Sincerly, Hyuga Clan. _

"Yuki!" I called down the hallway, "I am being kidnapped again...I will be gone for few days. I am being summoned by the Hyuga Elders, so don't worry _much_. Seems that they want to drive me away personally. So, where is my bag?"

"In your closet, where you keep everything," she answered, "Did they say just you?"

"Yep, divide and conquer seems to be in favor for them," I said while walking to my room and retriving my bag and packing a few things, "I don't know how much they will let me keep. So stop by later and see if you can grab my stuff."

"Behave," she said, "I will check on you through Hinata when I can."

" 'Kay," I said before hugging her, "I promise no blood..for now. Okay no blood or evil or chaos or any of my usual stuff."

I had arrived at the Compound shortly after getting the scroll. With it in hand, I was escorted to the main house and then lead to a chamber that held all the members of the Elder Counsil along with Hiashi. There were five of them total, including Hiashi. I recognized Yuuki along with Hiashi's father, and a the other two. I hadn't seen much of them around, and I really didn't talk to many of the Main Family, since most of them were very uptight to say the least.

"Kori," said Hiashi, moving to my side, "These are the council members of the Hyuga family. From right to left is, my father, Hideaki, Yuuki, Akira, Haruto, and Kazuki."

I bowed, "An honor to meet you, I am Kori."

"We already know who you are girl!" said the one introduced as Haurto.

"Oh isn't she special," said Akira.

I leaned closer to Hiashi, "Was that a compliment?"

"Akira is the somewhat, unusual. Like you, he says what is on his mind," replied Hiashi.

"What are you speaking about?" asked Akira.

"I was wondering the meaning behind your words. I didn't want to insult you by saying something," I said, "wrong."

"So you just go behind our backs and talk is that it?" snapped Haruto.

"N-no," I said biting my lip to keep from saying 'I am right in front of you.'

"Sit," said Hideaki motioning with his hand to an empty seat.

I felt unusually skiddish at this point. Haruto and Hideaki were glaring at me, Yuuki kept an impassive look, while Akira and Kazuki almost had smiles on thier faces. I was going to die soon, well hopefully not. I kept trying to tell myself that I promised Yuki no blood stains. I slowly made my way over to the seat that they had set out for me, while Hiashi took his place as Head of the Huyga Clan. As I sat down I tried to slow down my breathing as my mind began flipping out. I knew if they decided that I was 'unworthy', never being able to associate with Neji was high on the list of things they could do. I simply waited for them to begin speaking.

* * *

Names of Hyuga Council- and a bit about them and meaning of their names.

**Yuuki**- 優 (yuu) "gentleness, superiority" or 悠 (yuu) "distant, leisurely" combined with 希 (ki) "hope", 輝 (ki) "radiance" or 生 (ki) "life". She agrees with some of the things that Hiashi proposes, she believes that some change would better the family in general. She became part of the council after her husband died. She prefers that everything is kept in balance, and is often the mediator during council meetings.

**Akira**- 昭 "bright", 明 "bright" or 亮 "clear". He backs Hiashi and actually likes the view of how Hiashi is doing things, and the reasons behind them. He is considered the youngest of the elders though he is at least ten years older than Hiashi. Speaks his mind, and is very kind to everyone.

**Haruto- ** 陽 (haru) "sun, sunlight", 遥 (haru) "distant" or 晴 (haru) "clear up" combined with 斗 (to), which refers to the constellation Ursa Major, or 翔 (to) "soar, fly". He is very stubborn and hardheaded. He doesn't like change at all and has been very skiddish of outsiders since the Uchiha Massacre. He isn't too trusting of anyone but he is able to see things from multiple views. This is also Haruko's father.

**Kazuki-** 一 (kazu) "one" or 和 (kazu) "harmony" combined with 輝 (ki) "radiance, shine" or 希 (ki) "hope". He is the 'middle ground' of everything. He sees views of both sides and it is up to Kori to convince him that things should be changed. He listens to everyone and doesn't like to take irrational steps or leap into any decisions.

**Hideaki-**meaning "excellent bright, shining" (英明) - Japanese boy name. This is the name I am giving Hiashi's father. He is very strict and keeps to the traditions. He does not dislike Kori, but he isn't going to make things easy for her either. However when it comes to changing the traditions, he does not like the proposal.

* * *

**Alpenwolf: **Seriously, that made you laugh. Well buckle in for some more Hyuga fun. Kori is going to have to pass the tests of the Hyuga Clan, well the ones they set up for her to make sure she is worthy. I know it is dramatic but hell, it would be a good look into the family and I think I could see clans like this doing stuff like this. Okay Shikamaru currently he is 15 atm since his birthday hasn't passed in the story yet. Neji is currently 17, and before you get your 'OMG' out (since I do not know if there are age laws of consensual 'crap as I call it' regarding legal ages for people to date before it is called statutory rape. Where I live after you are 16, which is the age of consent, you are able to date people two years apart from you. Any farther than that and it is illegal. After you are 18 then it is illegal to pretty much date anyone under the age of 18, people are very peculiar where I live) there aren't any laws like that here. Yuki would be five years apart from Shikamaru while Kori is only two years apart from Neji.

** Sukaretto Miyuki- **You are welcome love. I am glad that you liked the way I wrote the characters. We don't get to see much of them so it gave me sort of 'free range' to write them. I still had to look them up and fit the way that I wrote them to how their personalities are described, thank you Narutopedia. OMG...seriously...HOLY CRAP. You approve? (ten minutes later) okay didn't quite have a heart attack but holy crap...I never expected you to like the match up that well. I feel special. Ah, the imaginary beard...I usually twirl my hair around my index finger for those thoughts of mine when they strike. Ah, you can creep. I am pretty sure I have internet stalkers out there somewhere...at least I would know you somewhat. Yep different styles are fun...though I will admit, I have read some pretty steamy ones that I had to check myself for a nosebleed. Though I really don't know if I would consider the couples in this story as innocent. Yeah I mean they aren't doing it like bunnies, but Kori is anything but! Here is your chapter, and may your eyes and mind be happy...

* * *

**River: **Alright so we see some development with the girl's abilities. Kori now has the trigger of skin contact that sets her ability off, and Yuki can just talk (will this be permanent? -dramatic music-). A good cannon ability is Naruto's **Wind Release: Rasenshuriken. **When he first learned it, it kept causing his arm damage and it had trouble reaching opponents because it would fizzle out. Naruto perfected it after he learned sage mode though. If you want ALL the details then you will have to go to .com and look it up. They are becoming more sesitive to people and the strength of their jutsus cause some unexpected results. Though thanks to Tsunade they have a better grasp on chakra control so they won't be causing any major damage anytime soon.

It is ironic how I made the abilities, well came up with them: (don't ask me why I thought about this, it just hit me, so I place it here...lol)

Kori's:(These are the closest things I can compare it to) The impressionism jutsu is a mash up of Sai's Ink jutstu and the Yamanaka Jutsu of being able to be able to go into people's minds. However unlike the Mind Clone Switching Technique, Kori can't control the person she is entering, but she can read minds and look up information like Inochi Yamanaka. Though memories she picks up carry emotional ties with them, she can't pick up on emotions that are burried deep. [i.e. Sai and Sasuke would be good examples] . Now she uses her mind but her heart is the thing that rules her decisions most of all, which is the opposite of Yuki. Though she can affect people's minds all of her abilities are ninjutsu. Phrase: 'One who can break minds and wills with a single glace but her heart prevents her from abusing that power.' (a little hint to what will come in the future)

Yuki: (Closest thing) Combination of the Nine Tails Negitive Emotion technique and the Village Hidden in the Sound jutsu, and genjustu. Yuki can weave her chakra and create powerful illusions to trap people in, and she can sense people's emotions and find 'core' emotions to play off of and use to her advantage. Though her jutsu is emotionally based, she always thinks over things, while Kori jumps head on. So these two are like Yin and Yang sorta. Phrase: Can enthrall anyone by speaking and can enchant the masses, her cool nature and sharp intellect keeps her strong.'

**Future Development**: Yeah these two are going to get stronger since we still have yet to see the White and Black version of Kori's jutsu. However, I probably won't be actually naming Yuki's abilities since most of them sorta tie hand in hand with one another, and are practically the same thing only stronger...if I can think of a name however then I shall name it. So as they develop more freaky things will come their way, and methinks evil doers just happen to cross paths with them...-evil laugh- won't tell you why though.


	21. Chapter 21: Proving Trials

"The reason that you are here," said Yuuki, "Is the relationship that you have with the branch member Neji."

"The council called you here so that any questions they may have regarding you can be answered," said Hiashi.

_Great. Okay metaphorical pariah to them now being turned into a...hell I don't want to think of that, _I thought to myself.

"Understand that for the safety for the family you must be deemed worty," said Akira, "There aren't many cases that have been successful when two people came together and one was not part of the Clan."

"Over the course of two weeks, you will be asked questions regarding yourself. Also if anyone contests your relationship, they can openly speak out. You may not leave the premises nor can you bring any outsiders here," said Haruto, "If anyone of the rules are broken then you shall be forbidden to ever set foot here."

_Crap, so I have more than one relationship on the line here, _I thought biting my lip, "I understand. Though if they were to be part of the investigation of me and speak on my behalf or against me, can the present themselves?"

"If there is a need for that, then we will have them escorted here," said Kazuki, "We will not take every chance you have to defend yourself, but we can't allow you to persuade them. So if they are asked here, they will do so under guard and you must not have contact with them."

"There are heavy accusations against you. The most troubling ones of late will be dealt with first," said Hideaki, "Whispers of you being a spy and posioning the family have spread far."

"Explain?" I asked, "I mean could you clarify. I do not quite understand what you are saying."

"Typical," scoffed Haruto, "Once a-"

"We will get to that in just a moment Haruto," said Akira, "I am interested in what she has to say. There are rumors that since you are not of Konoha, that you were sent to spy. Tsunade has already given reports of you doing exceptionally well in the field during infiltration and information gathering. We are afraid that you may be selling the secrets of our clan to other people. Do not think we are accusing you of betraying Konoha, we just want to know your answer of why you are here mingling with our family. There is also rumors that your ties with Hiashi and his daughters has given you ample room to disrupt the family traditions."

_Don't yell, no matter how stupid the accusations. Remember they are dead serious when protecting the family. You should know that from history._ I thought before I took a deep breath in.

"I do not gain anything by giving away secrets of Konoha. Your family is part of the main thing I wish to protect. If I betray your family by telling secrets which I have no knowledge of to begin with, then I betray Konoha. That will never happen and has not ever happened. As for breaking of traditions, if you are refering to Neji learning more of your family's techniques, I was informed that he learned a lot of them on his own. If he is given aid to perfect them, then the blame is not there to be placed on anyone. I am sure with time he could learn anything on his own," I said.

"Lies!" hissed Haruto, "No one has learned any of our techniques."

"I beg to differ, there is one ninja that I know still lives that has obtained an eye from your family. He is from Kirigakure, his name is Ao," I said, "This was during the Fourth Shinobi war."

"How do you know that?" asked Kazuki.

"I read," I half lied. There was some mention of it in history scrolls but that particular knowlage was already in my memories, as were a lot of other things I promised never to tell anyone, "One history book said that a member of your clan was defeated in combat by a hunter-nin. If given the chance, wouldn't another member of a village try and steal that knowledge? Though sometimes, as history states, not all threats are from other villages."

"So you admit to being a threat," said Haruto.

"Not at all, I am just reminding you what befell the Uchiha Clan a few years back. Not that you are a target for such an event," I said trying my best.

"So you are a spy," said Haruto.

"No, I am not. I would never," I said keeping as much of my cool as I could, "You may ask your own family members that I have not once asked them anything about the Byakugan or any of the family's techniques. Well besides if I caught them practicing and was curious about the name. Other than that I have never asked anyone farther about it. So how could I be a good spy if I am not trying to learn anything about your family. Your family members, I like to know what their hobbies are, and other friendly conversation. That is as far as my knowledge goes."

"We have heard your side, and will be watching you," said Kazuki, "That is why you are requested to stay here. Do not worry, we shall make sure you are taken care of."

"Reassuring," I mumbled under my breath.

"The next order of questions are you relationship with Neji," said Hiashi, "It would seem that while watching you, someone saw you frequent the houses of Rock Lee, Kiba Inuzuka, and the one called Sai. It would seem that a rumor of you being less than honest in your intentions with them have arose. Please reassure them that you intentions are innocent."

"Oh," I said thinking _did he just say they think I am a hoe? Well Hiashi DID call me that when he found out about me and Neji...okay just take it one step at a time. _"My relationship with Sai is just a mutual friendly relationship based on the fact both me and him are interested in art. I stopped by his house yesterday to see if he had gotten my invisible ink that I have made. Kiba and I are friends and I see him a lot when I hang out with Hinata, they are team mates together. If you would like to understand how friendly we are towards one another, it is a friendly rivalry. The worst that would happen is we beat one another up. As for Lee, his is Neji's team mate and I was being helped by him when my accident happened. He helped me with training during physical therapy and our understanding with one another is that we both want to be great shinobi. You can ask all three of them yourself that I have not once tried to be romantically involved with them in any way."

"Kori," said Yuuki, "I apologize for the sensitive nature of this question, but are you pure?"

"Pure?" I asked, "Pure of heart...pure of...oh. I - I really...Oh my god do I have to answer?"

"Her nervousness shows that she is," started Haruto.

"N-..Well, that is a _very _personal question you just asked. I can't be blamed if I didn't what four old men to know whether I am still a virgin or not!" I said blushing very heavily and looking away.

"There is always the test," said Hiashi, "That way we can find out and keep Kori's pride intact. It is obvious she is not comfortable with the questions."

"It doesn't matter if she is comfortable or not, this needs to be answered," said Hideaki.

Yuuki cleared her throat, "A woman should not be answering those questions to any man but her husband. If she is uncomfortable with the question, I can personally have the test done. If she passes then there will be no doubt that the accusations against her are false, regarding her involvement with other shinobi."

"How do we know she can't forge the information? She knows branch members that would lie for her," said Haruto.

"That is why I will personally see to it. I doubt she would be comfortable with me in the room, there is no way she will want you four near that room while she is tested," said Yuuki.

"We can always read her mind," suggested Kazuki.

"Violating her mind is as bad as violating her body," said Yuuki.

"I would prefer the test," I said, in defeat, "I don't want anyone in my mind."

"Why, you can go into others minds," said Hideaki, "We have heard that you can do wondrous things. Knowing what happens to people by being near them, using paints molded to your will, and reading minds."

"I can't read minds like that, nor can I predict anything. I don't go into peoples minds for fun or any games. If it is necessary and no way to avoid it, just like the interrogation group of Konoha. I only do it to find information that is needed. I don't try and know things about people. I would much rather ask them. It is wrong to go into minds like that."

"Can you control people?" asked Akira.

"No, unlike Ino and her family, I can't control anyone, nor can I influence them. I see memories, yes, but nothing more. It is like reading a scroll really. I can get kicked out and it is very hard for me to get into thier minds," I said, "Look if you want to bind me and keep me from using that while I am here, then you can. I am currently not using anything right now."

"I say we do as she asked," suggested Haruto.

"No," said Kazuki before the fighting happened.

I was almost put on the list for being branded but since I had no formal ties with the family, I escaped that fate, but that is what lead to the elders proposing our marriage. Then I had to go through all sorts of stupid tests, and one that I thanked Kami for everyday that the midwife who tested my 'purity' knew me well and was told of the current predicament. Though she didn't lie when she examined 'me', though if anyone would have looked very close they would have seen it was really Hinata in contacts. Though I went through with it just to reassure Hinata and Yuuki, that I wasn't taking advantage of the situation. God bless that girl. She and I became very close since Neji and I started dating. Plus, it did help that no men were allowed near the examination room, which most of the elders consisted of. Lady Yuuki, was the only one who was allowed back with 'me', other than the midwife of course. She and I had an understanding, though she did not approve of her nephew teaching Neji the Huyga techniques, she understood that if the rift didn't heal, a civil war would be certain. She also asked me personal questions while I was there. Though the experience itself wasn't bad, it made me feel very akward and I wasn't able to look at any of the Hyuga members in the face after.

After that exam was over, Yuuki had a special circlet made that could be taken off by the council and Hiashi if needed that bound my chakra in me. I was really worried that I may be attacked while staying but there was not helping it. If I wanted to prove myself I had to bend to thier will for now. The next few days, they informed me, was my relationships with people from Konoha would be questioned, the reason behind the Haruko Incident, and if anyone didnt approve then I would have to defend myself. Kiba was the first one to make it there and I was ushered out of the room and escorted to another part of the building while he was being questioned. Other than seeing Kiba, I didn't know who all was there.

After hours, they came back and retrieved me and took away all my stuff and gave me an outfit to wear. I changed into the black and white robes, I felt like I was out of place. I had to take my hair down and wear it loose, but they allowed me to keep my forehead protector, which I tied around my neck so that the metal was facing behind me. After changing I was escorted back into the council chambers and saw that Kiba, Haruko, and Sai were still in the room. I tried not to look at them directly and forced myself to look down.

"It would seem that the rumors were just rumors," said Kazuki, "After the test and speaking with your fellow shinobi, it would seem that falsehood was spread to try and place you in a false position."

"If I may speak," I said looking up at them.

"You may," said Yuuki.

"Why is Haruko here?" I asked.

"My daughter is here to confirm any suspicion that is against you," said Haruto.

"Father," spoke Haruko.

"I want to know why you had her banished," said Akira.

"Well it was far better than having her put to death or put in jail. Isn't family matters up to you?" I asked.

"Yes," said Yuuki, "We aren't here to discuss that Haruto."

"Why not, isn't it her fault that my daughter is like this?" he asked.

"No," I spoke up, "Maybe why she isn't living with you anymore but she was always like she was."

"Was?" asked Akira.

"Council Members, Kori is right. I had some issues that I tried to bury and they surfaced a few months ago. If I had kept going down the path I did, I would have destroyed everything that was expected of me, and probably caused the family much grief. Though I was banished from the family, Kori helped me," said Haruko, "Tsunade had me talk to people about myself and I was very angry and upset with my life. If she did not interfere with my plans that night, I might have done something very wrong. Though I still think she is an urchin, she would not endanger the family."

"So she has gotten to you," said Haruto.

"No, she just made me realize my mistakes father. She is too much of a bleeding heart to do anything bad for or to people. She did spare my life," said Haruko, "If she wanted to harm the family, she could have told a lie to Hokage-sama and had the family investigated, or she could have made you watch me die. Though she went out of her way to find middle ground for my sentence. Though living next to her is a pain, it would seem her life is rather colorful and I can hear the arguments in my house."

"They argue?" asked Kazuki.

"Sometimes, it is mostly quiet, and they are good neighbors. Kori has spoken with me a couple of times since I have been taking therapy. She even went out of her way on my birthday to give me a present," said Haruko, "She is so nice it is sickening sometimes, but that is the way she is."

"Do you two have anything to say?" asked Kazuki.

"Well, I have had her and her sister over to help me with the new pups," said Kiba, "I don't know what it is, but those two can calm the most unruly pup down. We do fight and could be seen as hating one another, but my sister would kill me if I didn't get along with Kori. She has helped Hana a lot, especially when she, my mother, I, or Ashi are out on missions. When we had our family gathering, they helped watch over the kids and pups and helped them pick out partners. As annoying as she is, and I still haven't forgiven her for giving Akimaru fleas, she is a good friend. When I can't talk to anyone, she goes out of her way to make me talk. Sometimes with her fists if I am being unusually stubborn."

"How was I supposed to know those bushes were eaten up with fleas," I defended myself from Kiba.

"So she meddles in other Clan affairs?" asked Hideaki.

"No, it is not like that. They were asked to help and did so when they were busy. They found time between training to help us if we needed it," said Kiba.

"I see," said Akira.

"I have not known Kori long enough for me to be here," said Sai, "She has ran into me a few times and we pass by one another but other than that, there isn't much to tell."

"As soon as Gai's team returns we shall speak with Rock Lee," said Kazuki.

"I would like to ask why am I in these clothes?" I asked, "I know I could be given worse, but what is the reason?"

"The council would like you to interact with the Clan during your stay. To test your loyalty, you are to be treated as a branch member during your stay," said Hideaki.

"Alright," I said trying not to put any sarcasm in there.

"What about her not being part of Konoha or having a clan?" asked Haruto.

"That isn't of concern," said Hiashi, "Tsunade has already given reports to you about that, and there isn't anything that we do not know about them, as far as the information goes. She may not be from Konoha, but she has proven herself more than able to be a shinobi from us. She already has the Will of Fire, and there are many families that do not have clans, and others who have migrated here from other villiages."

"If you are questioning everyone, shouldn't Hinata be here?" I asked.

"We have already spoken with Lady Hinata and her sister Lady Hanabi. Both seem fond of you, and now I see why. You are very interesting and it would seem that your will makes you most unusual," said Yuuki.

"Unusual?" I asked.

"You seem to bring balance back into people's lives, that is a very good thing you have," said Yuuki.

"Um, Council, I have been asked a lot of things. Mostly about the family as a whole, and I understand you want to protect the family. I must ask why?" I said.

"We will inform you later, as of now you three," said Hideaki, "Shall be escorted home."

Kiba, Haruko, and Sai were shown out. After they left Hidaki told the council that they would continue questioning me later. Akira was the first to approch me and he actually smiled at me and shook my hand.

"Oh aren't you lovely," he said, "Now I see why Neji has a fondness for you."

"Creepy and thanks, I guess," I said trying to smile.

"Oh if only you could join the main family," he sighed, "Maybe you could liven up the place. Though I love them, my family is very much a stick in the mud."

I giggled, "Well just because I am not part of the main family doesn't mean I can't make your life better."

"Well," he said, "You are going to be looked at as a branch member. The life isn't always a good thing. You may be asked to do somethings you wouldn't normally."

"I swear if I have to give an old person a bath I am going to scream," I frowned.

"Well no, but you may want to keep that wildfire streak of yours that I have heard about locked up. There are a lot of the family that doesn't like strong willed servants," he said, "And please do not let my family scare you away. I would like to talk with you more often."

"Akira," said Hideaki, "I would like to talk with her."

Akira bid me good-bye and I was escorted outside to the gardens. Hideaki asked me to sit down when we were to the gardens.

"You willl be shown around the grounds by Hiraku, who you are familiar with, and then you will serve the main family house during your stay. My son and granddaughters will not be over you, since they may have trouble ordering you around. For one day each, you must serve one of the council members to the best of your ability. The tasks will range anywhere from fetching an object to doing minor things around the house. You wil not have to worry about their schedules, since their regular servants will take care of them," he said.

"Um, besides calling me out here to explain things. Is there something you need to ask me?" I inquired.

"No. Not really, I don't dislike you but I will not make things easy for you. I will make sure that you have reign over your emotions," he said closing his eyes, "Tonight you will be a guest, tomorrow is when you start. Haruto requested that you serve him first, the rest will come and get you during your stay," he finished, "You may want to get some rest."

"I will take that as a good luck," I said, "Thank you."

I was woken up and a ungodly hour by Hiraku and shown around. I was then instructed on how to wake up Haruto, though I really didn't want to. I was informed he hated mornings but he disposed being late for anything. My day with him consisted of getting him clothes, food, running around the compound delivering things and escorting people to him. It wasn't that bad, though he did strike out at me when I did something wrong, like my posture was slouched, I spilled anything, or I was late. I could roll with the punches but some of the tasks he asked of me, I literally chewed my lip to keep from speaking out. I saw branch members be punished and I couldn't do anything about it, which killed me. The next day I was sent to Kazuki, who was very mild mannered and I spent most of the time giving him tea and being asked questions and opinions about things. Though I was unsure how to respond. I knew from certain things in my life servants really weren't supposed to have opinions.

"I don't understand," I said, "Aren't I being treated like a branch member and through association, a servant?"

"Well yes," he said, "However, I want to know more about you. Haruto seemed a bit displeased about you yesterday but it could be that he holds a grudge. I want to know what I am dealing with."

"And how does picking out your kimono for dinner, or asking which color I prefer tell you anything?" I asked.

"Well colors like red and yellow are considered aggressive and makes people happy but people can lose thier emotions in a yellow room. Blues and greens are calming and makes work easier. If one is stuck in a room that is blue it makes them more productive, if a green sheet of paper is placed over one that has been written over, then the person will read faster and better comprehend the words. Depending on which color you chose, tells me a lot about you.

You wear red, purple, and black in your field outfit. That means you are passionate, intense, warm, strong, and have comforting tendancies and are capable of loving anything greatly. The purple signifies wisdom and spirituality, though beautiful it doesn't represent itself in nature all too much and is unique but some would say artifical. Black is often used for evil but is also associated with power, death, formality, sexuality, sophistication, and negitive emotions are tied to it as well.

With that in mind I can tell that you are a good person, though you have your flaws, but many people do. Though you are not the most patient person, you will do what is right I believe. We Hyuga wear black because of the other meaning behind it, life and rebirth, along with being a strong and secretive color. White, represents innocence mostly, but can also come off as cold, bland, and sterile. Although I can see all aspects of the colors we choose, I rather prefer brown or pink," he said.

"I would have pegged you for a purple," I said, "Oh sorry I spoke out of line."

"No and yes. Be more concerned with your character than your reputation,because your character is who you really are, your reputation is mearly what others thing you are(1). If you feel the need to speak out, don't let silence burden you, but ask yourself if it will be true, if you can not see yourself believing in your words moments from now, then it would be best to keep silent. Sometimes the greatest moments in life are found by the most unlikeliest of people, those who have true courage. One can not discover oceans, secrets, hope, joy, or life if they are too afraid to step into the unknown," he said, "I like you for being courageous. You are not afraid of being yourself, which is quite more often than not the weakness of everyone in this Clan. They are too worried about the safety or the future that they forget their past and ignore the present."

"You are wise, and listen," I said smiling, "You also make my stay here a bit more pleasant. Some of yesterday's events left me bruises. So if and when I pass this thing, I would like to speak with you more."

"Do not let overconfidence shadow your intelligence," he said raising an eyebrow, "I can see that you are determined but do not let the stubbornness make you fall. Though if you do fall, get up and keep trying."

The rest of the day with him went smoothly and I took those words to heart. Akira was the next one to take me under him and his requests were most unusual. He was a bit eccentric and had the oddest taste buds. Red bean paste, wasabi, chocolate syrup, and mackerel was not on my list of edible things, but he loved it. He was kind and spontaneous though and reminded me of a big kid, but he took family very seriously. Akira took me by surprise when he asked me to play games with him, though I didn't think he was literal about it. By the time my day with him was over I was exhausted. Yuuki's day was just a blur, I was kept so busy that it really blended all together for me. Hiashi, I couldn't work under due to his father's orders, so I was under Hidaki.

He was a pain. He made sure that I had the most difficult tasks to do and always interrupted me throughout them, adding more and more things to do. His favorite thing to do was have me rearrange rooms and then tell me he wasn't happy with them and set them back up the way they were. It would have been fine if I had actual memory of how they did look. His second favorite thing to do was get me to wash the exterior floors of the Compound and get the kids to walk across it with muddy feet so I would do it all again. By lunch I wanted to kill someone. Hiraku took some pity on me and got me lunch and sat down with me.

"So how is your day?" he asked. I simply growled. He scooted away from me, "So that bad. Don't let Lord Hideaki get to you. He is just trying his best to protect the family."

"Any more royal pains in your family?" I asked.

"Here and there, but the rest of the week should be a breeze," he said before finishing his lunch, "I should get back, Lady Yuuki wanted me to deliver some messages to other members."

"Have fun," I said getting back to work.

By dinner time I was about ready to pass out, not being able to use my chakra to revitalize my physical stamina was proving a pain. I wasn't really allowed to have anything while serving so when chances appeared I downed two cups of black coffee. Normally I wouldn't dream of it but I was craving the caffeine. When Hideaki finally told me I was dismissed I bee lined to my chambers and passed out in full clothing. I didn't wake up until Hiraku literally had to kick me out of bed the next morning.

"What the hell?' I moaned rubbing the sleep out of my eyes.

"Neji is back from his missions and they want you now," he said.

"Can I at least bathe?" I asked.

"No, they mean now," he said picking me up.

"Great," I said yawning while grabbing my brush and beginning to get the knots out of my hair.

I managed to try and look decent while I was literally pushed into the Council Chambers. When I managed to stop, I was face to face with Lee. I blinked at him before it came to mind how close I was and I instantly jumped back.

"Ek!" I squeaked, "Don't do that."

"You almost fell into me, are you alright?" asked Lee.

"Fine, just sleepy. What time is it?" I asked.

"Four in the morning," said Neji behind me, "Why are you in servants clothes?"

"Your grandfather and the terror brigade are welcoming me," I answered, "For about a week I have been serving the Council, other than your uncle."

"This is not good," said Neji.

"Oh you should have been here when they accused me of cheating on you with the mutt, bushy brows, and the moving doll," I said.

"Huh?" asked Lee.

"Oh I have been spied on for a while now and they think me and you have a thing," I said frowing, looking around for the Council.

"That is ridiculous," said Lee, "Sakura is the only one for me."

"Yeah," I said rolling my eyes, "Like kung-fu men in tights jumping around are my thing."

Just about that time the concil members filed in and took their places in the room. After questioning both Lee and Neji they reached a decision, well part of one anyway.

"We have come to the conclusion that the accusations against the relationship of Kori and Neji are false. Now we will see who has any issues with the relationship," said Hideaki.

I leaned closer to Neji and whispered, "Why does it feel like they are trying to marry us?"

"I warned you," he whispered back.

"Yeah _after _everything," I snapped back softly.

There were a couple of people that I didn't recognize, some were part of the family while others were not. I sweetly smiled at them while whispering.

"Uh-oh. Fangirl alert, I may have to break something," I teased.

"It would be wise if you did not," he said.

The fan girls were quickly ushered out when they just whined, thank Kami. Though I was suprised when the last three who were left actually had a legitimate reason.

"There was a reason that romantic involvement outside the clan is forbidden," said one of them, "If I recall your late wife should be mentioned Lord Haruto."

Haruto narrowed his eyes, whatever the reason, these people hit something hard. I suspected that this was Haruko's reasoning behind her angst, but I didn't have much time to snoop around and get all the facts(2). I also didn't know traditions of the family either, well most of them. I did find out that Branch members had more a restriction on who they could marry, it did have to be approved by the Clan Head. Main family members usually were arranged but sometimes, such as in the past, some people married outside the clan. It wasn't common but sometime in the past twenty years that the clan was forbidden to have any romantic involvement with anyone outside the clan.

"You will not bring her up," said Haruto.

God did I wish I had my abilities right now. The damn circlet was more of a hinderence than a blessing right now. I really wanted to know but the nudge that came from Neji told me it wasn't pleasent.

"She was the reason why it is forbidden, is it not. She went insane and almost killed your daughter before she committed suicide, or was murdered by _him," _they continued.

"That is one of the things we have been debating on amending," said Yuuki.

"Council," I said, "It does me no good to sit here and be confused about this matter. If I am to better understand this situation, could you clarify?"

"Haruko's mother married into the family thirty eight years ago. She was once kind and gentle but after she became pregnant she changed. The longer she stayed in the family, the worse her mental state became, eventually she lashed out at her own daughter. After Haruko was five, her mother tried to run off but was brought back due to her delicate state, soon after she was murdered by her personal servant," said Hideaki.

_I smell a few rats and a big fat lie, _I thought. "I see," I said, "Well if you are worried about my mental health, it is sound."

"Some would say outsiders aren't welcome and the family has a way of weeding out those unwanted," smiled the second Hyuga member.

"I will keep that in mind," I said, almost backing away from that near murderous grin he had planted on his face.

"That was the primary reason you were brought here Kori," said Hiashi, "It was to see if your mental health would deteriorate while you stayed. Since we have no proof of that, we can't say that you are."

"Well have me checked on after two weeks," I said, hell I could bear it, "If I am not crazy then there shouldn't be a problem."

"You seem to be adjusting to the life we gave you," said Haruto, "but I am still not convinced."

_You GAVE me? What the hell, don't say anything...just keep your mouth shut_ I thought while biting my lip, which by now probably was swollen due to my 'keeping mouth shut' policy.

"I think there isn't anything to worry about," said Akira, "I actually am quite fond of her."

"I belive she is worthy," said Yuuki.

"I am still say she is a liability," said Hideaki.

"Two and two," said Kazuki, "Since we can't take into account Hiashi's word due to his personal association he has with Kori."

_Okay that sounded SO wrong..._

"I belive she is capable of completing the task we gave her, but there are a few more days of time left for anything to happen. You will know my answer then," said Kazuki.

"Neji," said Akira.

"Yes Lord Akira?" said Neji.

"You will be guarding Hinata for the Festival, I will entrust you will have Kori shadow you then? She should learn how to protect the family, she shall be in charge of Hanabi's safety," he said, "During that time your circlet will be removed so you can guard her well."

Oh god did I want to jump for joy at that time. I was able to spend some time with Neji. I had to dig my fingernails into my palm to keep from reacting too much. I simply bowed and accepted the apparent heavy burden, but with Hanabi not being able to see me much, she might stick to me like glue for the two day gathering. I could tell that Neji was hopeful as I felt the air around him relax. All I had to do was wait six days until the ceremony, and that would probably consist of 'guard training'.

After they announced that I would be on guard duty, during ridiculous hours I might add, I was shown to my room so I could get ready. After bathing and changing clothes, I was in the middle of brushing my hair when there was a knock at my door.

"Um, come in?" I said wondering when the Hyuga family learned to knock.

Neji stepped through the door way and stopped. He was still tense and looked like whatever mission he was on took its toll on him. I didn't want him to stay long, though I seriously wanted to hug and cuddle him right now. He slowly made his way over to me and touched the circlet they gave me to wear during my stay.

"Oh, works the same way as the curse seal if you are wondering, also seals my chakra. I have been normal for days," I said.

"Did they use it?" he asked.

"Haruto did a few times. At first it was to get me to streighten out then when I didn't fall to my knees he opened it full force. Wasn't too bad, I had a slight nosebleed after that," I said, "Don't worry, I have suffered a lot more than a migraine."

"I see," he said looking down.

"Before you yell, it was my choice to put this on. They didn't force me. I know it is stupid and some of the members do it for sport sometimes, especially the younger ones but it is okay. I am fine and a little pain never hurt anyone...okay so it hurts, it just reminds me why I am here," I said, "Hell couldn't keep me from you."

"Why are you this stubborn?" he asked grabbing my wrists.

"Because it is one of my many good qualities," I smiled while he frowned, "Okay so what. Want me to tell you that this is overwhelming? That I can't handle it? Hell no, those people don't scare me."

"I don't know whether to admire your bravery or chastise your stupidity," he sighed releasing me.

"Both?" I said, "So, in the extreme case I want to tackle you, please make sure when you beat me away, with a stick, that you don't leave too many bruises."

"Why would you tackle me?" he asked.

"Oh frustration mostly, and the family is amending certain things about the rules so I can't openly be affectionate. I am going to seriously go into cuddle withdraws," I pouted.

"We don't cuddle," he reminded me.

"Oh no we do, lots in my mind. I just wish we had more time to in the physical realm and not in just my crazy imagination realm," I said looking up at him, "Well at least I am not so addicted to you that I need you to sleep next to me...yet."

"Addicted to me?" he asked.

"Oh honey, you are like...hm...a strawberry cheesecake with whipped cream with a sign that says 'Eat Me' on the side," I teased.

He laughed, "Good thing you don't have a fork."

"I don't need one," I smiled.

"On that note I am leaving. Your guard shift is nearly here and you aren't at your post. That and I will not be responsible for detaining you, nor will you be given the change to shread my clothes," he said pushing me out the door.

"Yo, hairbrush!" I said walking down the hall.

A hairbrush was flung at my head and I caught it before it could do any damage. Running to where I was supposed to be, I accidentally caught my hair in the brush. I was pretty sure that I would have to cut it out by now, but I managed to thankfully get it out with out ripping most my hair out during the process. Not too soon later I was standing before I was in front of Ko. He told me all the duties that I would be doing and then he showed me where I would be patrolling for the night. I had a feeling in the back of my head that I might have trouble during the night. I was just going to be guarding the gate and really didn't need to have my chakra. Lucky me. Well no one would know other than the council that the nifty circlet I was wearing was more than just decoration, hopefully I could be intimidating.

Thankfully for me there wasn't any trouble I was given, if someone wanted me to screw up, they were not showing themselves now. Hopefully I could get through the the rest of the week without any screw ups. Kami thankfully was in my favor, or I was in his...either way I didn't care. Guard duty went well, though I had to keep myself up for a few days because of the hectic schedule. When the festival rolled around Hanabi was more than thrilled to have me guarding her.

"Kori!" she said before trying to tackle me.

I side stepped out of the way and caught her under my arm, "Heya, half-pint. So what terror can we cause for the evening?"

Hiashi cleared his throat behind me, "There will be none of that. Both of you behave."

"Yes daddy," said Hanabi pouting.

"Yes, sir," I said mimicking Hanabi's expression.

"Oh daddy wants you to wear this," she said holding up a kimono.

"Beats the bath robe," I said taking it before heading off to change.

After changing Akira stopped me in the doorway and took off my circlet. Then he proceeded to replace it with some unusual headpiece. I just looked at him and couldn't say much as he dragged me behind him and took me into the grounds for the festival. The festival was nice and everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves. I guess it was a way that the branch and main family could get together without much trouble. Though there were a few segregated groups but most of them were mingling. I didn't have much time to look around or chat because he kept grabbing me and pulling me behind him, thankfully Hanabi was on my heels. After two hours of him dragging me about, I began to get tired of being hauled around.

"Lord Akira," I said.

"Just Akira, lord makes me feel so old," he smiled,

"Akira, um, is there a specific reason I am being dragged everywhere? I kinda have something else to do...like guard your great grand niece," I told him trying to stop.

"I suppose," he said looking sad, "You are just so fun!"

"Yeah, I guess," I said rubbing the back of my head. I then turned to Hanabi, "So is there anywhere you want to go?"

"Great uncle Akira took me to most places. He and I were betting on how long you would put up with him, I won," she grinned.

"Oh you naughty person," I smiled, "Props to you."

"It isn't wise to encourage that behavior," said Akira.

"Well if it is restricted to me, it can help vent out negitive emotions," I told him, "Just think of Naruto. Didn't he vandalize the Hokage statues?"

"Yes," said Akira.

"He was acting out to get noticed and attention," I told him, "Though he has grown up a bit. I suppose."

"How would you know?" asked Hanabi.

"Comes with getting older, I guess. Well he is a shinobi with the Fourth Hokage's sensei. I am sure Jiraya has made him mature more," I told her before we walked off.

It wasn't too much longer after that, Hanabi wanted to go back inside. Apparently running around everywhere had wore her out. After we got back home I escorted her to her room before going back to mine and got ready and went to bed. The next day was slightly uneventful. Hanabi just went on with her training like usual and when the festival opened back up she just went to talk to her friends. I was slightly more than bored. Escorting a bunch of kids around wasn't what I had in mind. Though Hanabi kept me busy by 'ordering' me to win her prizes and junk from the festival. When she was finished hanging out, we began to make our way back to the Compound.

It was pretty late and I had to get up early in the morning, so I decided to turn in early. So after getting Hanabi home I began to make my way to the branch house to go to sleep. However, before I made it there I was attacked by someone. A bit cliche for me to have them in a mask but beggars can't be choosers. I slightly wondered why and how they snuck in the Compound, but intruders were intruders. After I dodged the kunai that was thrown at me by back flipping out of the way.

"Come with me," they said.

_Like hell, _I thought as I took my offensive position. I didn't have my pigments on me but I was still proficient with med-justsu and hand to hand combat. Though I wasn't as skilled as Sakura, I could still be able to overload his systems with the Mystical Palm Technique or use the Chakra Scalpel. As they closed the distance between us, I watched them carefully. They threw a punch aimed to knock me out, but I weaved to the left and brought my right arm up to sweep thier's out of the way. Stepping in, I extended my left arm out and pretended I was going to punch. They began to lean back as their hand came to block mine. Grabbing it, I pulled them forward, the unexpected shift throwing them off balance. Hopping up, I brought up my right knee and felt thier abdomen connect. I followed it up with an elbow strike to the back of thier head, aiming to knock them out. When that was taken care of I heard a gasp of terror.

"Oh my god you killed him!" said a young Hyuga member.

"Excuse me?" I said, looking around finding a girl no older than six appear from behind a door.

"Oh my god, big brother!" she said before looking teary eyed at me.

"Okay wait," I said before undoing the mask, there laying unconscious was a ten year old boy, "Shit. Where is his room?"

"Don't touch him!" she said.

"Hold on there girl scout! He is sleeping it off. He is very much alive. Though why did he attack me?" I asked.

"We were playing tag," she said, "If you get caught, you are it."

"Tag, that involved transformation jutsu and attempted kidnapping?" I raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah," she said.

"That is it, Neji's entire family is deranged, I just know it," I said throwing my hands up in the air, "So why are you two out at this hour?"

"I was hungry and big brother said he would help me get something to eat. Then we started playing," she said.

I picked up the unconscious boy and began to carry him, "Where is your room?"

She showed me her room and I laid him on the bed. After putting her to sleep I more or less jogged to my room, hoping not to run into anyone on the way. Neji wasn't in bed yet, but I wanted to go ahead and get some shut eye. I only had one more day to deal with this situation and I wanted to get it over with as soon as possible. When morning rolled around, I was summoned yet again to the council chambers and then escorted to a side room to get my brain checked. When the doctor was sure, after many tries, that I was clearly not insane...well not really insane, I was shown back into the chambers. With the report given to them they talked amongst themselves. Finally Kazuki had made up his mind.

"Kori," he said, "It would seem that there isn't any reason for you to be banished or forbidden from this place. It would seem that some of our laws are flawed and need to be amended. As of this moment we approve of your relationship and you may leave when you are ready."

"Okay, thanks!" I said openly jumping up and down, cheering myself, "So, does this mean I can change out of this and into my real clothes?"

"Your bag should already be in your room," said Hiashi.

"Thanks!" I said, "Now if you will excuse me, I think a bit of a celebration is in order."

Hiashi looked slightly worried for a second.

"Oh don't worry, this involves me going home, taking a LONG bath, and then possibly asking your nephew on a date," I smiled.

"For a second I thought you were going to do something normal for yourself," said Hiashi.

"No, painting the lawn purple and orange will wait until later," I said giggling, "Though maybe I should try that on a smaller canvas before working the full yard."

"You can change the colors of things?" asked Akira.

"Yeah," I said slowly, "Color is my thing."

"Are the effects permanent?" he asked.

"No, it mostly lasts a day or two, unless I prepare the formula to seperate the pigment from my chakra," I said.

"I may have another use for you," he said smiling,"but it would seem you want a bit of rest from the Huga Clan."

"Well not all of them, but I haven't seen my sis in two weeks. She is no doubt worried about me," I said before saying goodbye to them and getting my stuff before heading home, with Neji being dragged behind me of course.

* * *

1. A quote by John Wooden.

2. Mentioned in _Looking for Justice_, it was a mistake when I left the words 'she was originally part of the Hyuga Clan' it SHOULD have been _wasn't_ instead. I have corrected the mistake so sorry if you got confused. I apologize. On another note, the Hyuga Clan I would think would consist of a hundred or more people, guessing small here. I don't think they are inbred or anything, since there are a LOT of past generations of marriage outside the clan, and such. I would think as they filtered down the generations it would be more common to marry within the clan (most would have the last name but the genetics would be so far spread out it would be like someone marrying another person that they both shared a twenty times great ancestor...) so that the Byakugan would be more likely to show itself and to protect the family. I think they have like twenty or thirty different 'blood lines' to work with and most would be related by marriage..hopefully it makes sense to you.

Time Left: 8 months until Naruto returns.

* * *

**Alpenwolf: **It is and it isn't. The Hyuga Clan would no doubt be very cautious about anyone trying to associate with them since the Uchiha Clan Massacre. The others (cannon characters) would probably be safe because they would know them from the past and have been in Konoha since the beginning, Kori has not. I mean it isn't anything too major but I kinda wanted to show the effects of *SPOILER* Danzo's meddling on other members of Konoha. As for the dating thing...it doesn't matter much outside the universe that is being created within the story. Yeah, I suppose I set it up kinda for me to be flamed in the future for the age thing, but I wanted Yuki to be older, and I can't help how old Shikamaru is in the Cannon Universe, since this Universe is taken from the Cannon. I am unsure if I am willing to change things, I will try to keep it interesting and if I feel that the Cannon wouldn't fit the story, then I may change some future events...Right now it is 50/50.

**Sukaretto Miyuki: **To answer your question, I made them all up except for Hideaki, though his name is made up. He is the only elder that we know of in the Naruto universe. Though going by some traditions, and a lot of anime I have seen, clans like this would have a council with the older members of the family. Hmm, I keep my hair short ususally, right now my hair would look like Sebastian Michleals from Kuroshitjini (black butler) only not black, yet. (I plan on cosplaying as Sebastian and Sai this year at Dragon Con, so I am just going to trim it up and dye it before hand) Don't worry about reading my other stories, I don't mind. I wrote them because I felt like it, nothing more, nothing less. Since you don't know much about the universe, then you would be confused if you were 'thrown in', though Dragon Age is a game...and graphic novel series now. As for the pranks, yeah. I know it was cruel but Kori is really nice deep down and she wouldn't do anything that bad to people, as for Ino. I don't know if she likes green or not, but I went with it. Green is the easiest color that blond can go to, especially if it isn't natural. Chlorine can turn blonde hair green for a day or two if you aren't careful.

**NejiTen: **Really? I hate to tell you this but that will not happen. It specifically says NejixOC and ShikamaruxOC in the description. I am sorry to disappoint and though I enjoy that you read my story, I don't think you will read much more of it. Just please, after finding out about this do not flame or troll. I did not write this story to be dealt with like that. If you are going to target something for a rage, after you read this, target me specifically. I do not want my Baby (my story) to be abused in such a manner. I am sure that you will find your NejixTenTen stories under the actual pairings of them, I hope you the best in finding your dream stories.

* * *

**River: **Alrighty readers. Here is a new chappy, and not too soon after the other one was put up. So more or less kinda a double chapter thing. I just wanted to get this thing out of the way. So we know more about Haruko and look it seems like she is nicer...since therapy. So yeah. Not much to say other than that.


	22. Chapter 22: Trouble in the Making

I had arrived at home with Neji in tow. I quickly opened the door, only to quickly cover my hands over my eyes to prevent peering into Yuki's personal life.

"Oh my god do you knock?" she asked, quickly breaking away from the lip lock action.

"Not when it is my damn house, you have a room you know," I informed her.

She picked up a nearby pillow and threw it at my head. I sidestepped and caught it before it could land on the unsuspecting Neji. Tossing it gently back at her, she captured the plush overstuffed pillow and sat it back down.

"Qualification Exams are next month," she said without looking at me.

"Fuck!" I sighed, "Life just got fucking better, why didn't you fucking tell me earlier?"

"Because aside from using the word fuck so vividly," she said getting up, "I know you can manage."

"Great, if I just didn't deal with one pain in my ass, another shows up," I said tugging at the loose strands of my hair absent mindedly.

"You won't have any hair left if you do that," she informed while retrieving the information I needed off the fridge, "Here. Shizune will be testing you...so study up."

"Well if this isn't peachy keen," I sighed, "Sakura around?"

"Why?" she asked raising an eyebrow.

"Well she passed it last year, and I was wondering any tips," I said going to my room.

"What is with the bath robe?" she called down the hall.

"Hyuga, non-formal servant garb. This should tell you all the hell I have been through in the past two weeks," I called back.

"And I was enjoying the silence, and ability to make out anywhere," she teased.

"Ha ha, ass," I muttered.

After a quick shower and a change of clothes, following the hallelujah chores when I did my make up, I walked back in the living room. I quickly eyed and narrowed them at the public snuggle fest that was appearing before me, frustrated by the lack of affection action I found myself going into withdraws for. I mean don't get me wrong, Neji was a wonderful boyfriend; the no cuddle, kiss, hold hands, pretty much no touchy in public was taking its toll. Yuki wasn't flaunting it either, but apparently the course of the two week absence in my house gave them much needed together time, and they seemed to fall into a subconscious 'comfort' pace. While watching them briefly, I could tell they weren't trying to be so close, though I doubt they even realized they were so. Yuki found me staring and offered to gouge out my eyes.

"What?" I said, "I am just taking in the information and processing it."

"Processing my ass," she said through clenched teeth, "Mine."

"Like I go for tan boys anyway. If I wanted that then I would have plagued someone else. ANYwho, as you can see my relationship has been approved by the insane members of the Clan and they are willing to amend things."

"That bad huh?" she asked, "So how long will it take before you tackle him?"

"Wha?" I began to stammer and blush, "I-I will not."

"Sure," she said slowly, "And I am a fairy queen."

"All hail Queen Titania," I said, mock bowing before something much deadlier was thrown at me.

"Aiee!" I said holding the newly acquired scratch on my face.

"You deserved it," she scoffed, "No give me back my kunai."

"What for another free shot? Hellz no," I informed her.

She frowned at me and then proceeded to walk over to me, pick up the kunai, and knock me upside the head.

"Evil woman," I muttered as I rubbed my head.

"I heard that," she said before hugging me, "Missed ya."

I returned the hug, "Missed ya too. So since I am on the no PDA list of this millenium, I am going on a date that involves LOTS of walking."

Yuki pulled me close and whispered, "A few good spars will do you some good. That way you can touch him to your hearts content."

"It would look awfully funny if I kept grabbing his ass," I groaned, "If I fall and take him with me...oh god."

The date mostly consisted of me walking ahead of Neji, in fear that if I caught his ass in my line of sight I would instantly target it. We walked around Konoha and visited some shops, and came home for dinner. By that time I swear the air around me was crackling. As soon as we entered the door, I shut it quickly, took aim, and lept. I landed on him and wrapped both my arms and legs around him and began to make 'cute' sounds.

"What the hell?" he said as he was thrown off balance.

"Cuddle fit...just sit there," I said, voice muffled by my head burring itself in his shoulder.

"Kori...he needs to breathe!" gasped Yuki as she pried me off.

"Dun wanna!" I said in a childlike voice, before returning to normal, "Unlike you I have had to spend two weeks..TWO BLOODY WEEKS being within arms reach and no touchy...Five minutes is all I ask. Besides, he can breathe."

"What did I do to deserve backpacking a hundred extra pounds?" he said holding me up with his arms.

"You were born a sexy hard rockin' body hottie," I said releasing him, well before my requested time.

"I am going to pretend I didn't hear that," said Yuki.

"So is dinner made?" I asked.

"You are lucky, I finished ten minutes ago," she said, "it should still be warm. It is in the oven."

I opened up the oven to find a homemade veggie pizza. I took it out and picked up two slices and a plate left in the dish rack we put them in after washing them to dry. Neji followed suit but instead of sitting beside me, he sat just out of arms reach to avoid being randomly grabbed, smart man. Well with my moment of cuddle, I was a bit more calm than usual. Though there was no way in hell he was not spending the night...if I had anything to say about it. Neji caught me in my thoughts and begin to ruin all my careful planning...well what I was trying to turn into careful planning.

"No," he said flatly after finishing his dinner.

"Do you _really _want to learn _all _the uses of fuck?" I asked.

"I am hoping you are talking about using the word," he said.

"Well of course what did you think- Oh!" I said gasping and pretty sure I was red, "Great, I have turned my boyfriend into a pervert."

He smiled, and that only made me want to use the word literally.

"Alright," I said placing the plate in the sink beginning to clean up, "You asked for it."

"Beg your pardon?" he asked.

"Frichen(1)," I said pausing, "I am thinking of using it in literal terms right about now, but _for _now I will fucking use fuck because I am fucking frustrated that my life has turned into one giant fuck after another. No pun intended."

"I would hope that you feel better after all that," he said, "Otherwise I may have a problem."

"Perfect," I said finishing up the cleaning, "I am just scatter-brained right about now. A good nights sleep in my own bed is in order."

"You should be glad the Elders never heard that come from your mouth," he said smirking.

"Psht, Akira would just jump up and down...I think the only one who would be surprised would be your grandfather sir. Eh, I suppose that rant was from having to filter all my words..." I said drying my hands off, "A bit of steam should be blown off. So I suggest a random dance spree or you my adorable oh so _fuckable _boyfriend may not leave, well without your clothes being intact."

"And allow myself to be treated in such a way by a deviant?" he said melodramatically, "I would never."

"Liar," I giggled, "Good thing you made me smile, or I had a whole five minute shadow clone parade of Gai and Lee singing 'Men in Tights'. Though I would need more than one, there is a can-can line about halfway through it."

He shuddered, "You need help."

"And that is why you are here," I said, "Let's see, you calm me down, make me feel better. I can't help but smile around you, and you are just awesome that way."

To my either honest good luck or charm, though I would have said luck to be honest, he stayed the night. He stayed up and chatted with me until I fell asleep, and to my displeasure, I woke up in a colder than I wanted it to be bed. Sighing I showered and began to study up on my med-nin stuff while waiting on Yuki to grace me with her 'charming' self in the morning.

The next month was quickly coming to an end, I had found time between missions to study up on the skills needed and passed my med-nin Qualification Exam. Now that I was a bonnified med-nin, I would be working in the hospital if needed and sent to other places, if they needed assistance. I wasn't sent really anywhere as just a med-nin though, Sakura was more skilled than I was and she was usually the first to be called if it was a true emergency. Right now I just tried to focus on bettering myself, along with med nin skills, I tried working with everyone I could to begin perfecting Collaboration Jutsus. Though it was slightly difficult to find people who were similar enough to me that I could work with them.

I also began working with different mediums with my Impression Art, using now oil based paints which are highly flammable and used with my Yellow Sting make a big bang, or can enhance Fire Release, and I worked on using metal shavings to create metallic paints and pigments to enhance my binding and weapon making skills. I also worked on layering my paints so they could flatten out and with a set of 'pre-recorded' chakra weaved in the parchment, someone could now call out three dimensional models of places I have been or seen, and even people. Though it was really hard to have the colors 'set' in a fixed location and not bleed together making a jumbled mess. So I had to learn how to weave chakara threads into the pattern to keep the pigments and paints 'fixed'.

Yuki wasn't being a slacker either. With help of Kurenai, she became a specialist in Genjutsu. She also learned about the mind as much as she could, becoming a teacher along side Shikamaru. While she wasn't busy, she began creating small items, bindings, and markings that would enhance the user as long as the pre set chakra wasn't depleted. Nothing major was put into it, considering the danger that it could propose if fallen into the wrong hands. So simple speed rushes, strength boosters, and mostly defense items were made. Impressed by her ability to tinker with such things, she was offered a job at the Research Division, which she turned down stating her tinkering was only a hobby. The talismans and other charms she created wouldn't last any longer than a few minutes at most and because of the 'useless' label it was given, there wasn't much trouble Konoha received from neighboring villages when they found out. Fascinated with animals, she tried creating transformation jutsu that would turn a shinobi into an animal, though right now it was more error than anything. Thankfully the now turned 'mad scientist' limited herself to the poor bunny that was kept in her classroom as sort of a mascot, thank god.

Working together we found out her little charms could be etched into people using my artist skill that would eliminate the need for carrying around charms, since I gave them all temporary tattoos. The majority of the problem was getting the chakra level right...and I now had a few scars to prove it. The new tattoos would fade when the user activated the jutsu so they couldn't be used again. Though the 'genius' behind it all tormented me until I figured out the right mix of pigments, because her numbers are _never_ wrong...or so she says.***

Before we knew it, it was already July. Thankfully Hiashi kept to his word and most of the rules regarding relationships were amended. Though when I found out about the amended rules, I pretty much handcuffed myself to Neji for a day, which didn't go very well. We were now able to enjoy displays of affection and all members of the Hyuga Clan were given more freedom on relationships. More members were able to date and everyone seemed a lot happier over the fact arranged marriages couldn't be absolute anymore. Though the ruling on the virtuous thing was _somewhat _amended, the thought of other Hyuga Clan members doing anything other than holding hands was still a good laugh for me. Though the plus side was that I got to kidnap Neji once a week or so and _persuade _him into staying the night, my cuddle fixes were never lacking now.

Though when the third rolled around, many threats were passed along my way, both of Neji refusing another party, and others wanting me to do it had me thrown for a loop. Of course the impish side of my personality would cave..._eventually, _I was more afraid of refusal of all my cuddle time being put into action. Neji was pleased when his birthday passed quietly, but was unfortunately called away for a mission, which left all my plots against him thrown to the wind. I was not happy to say the least. Though when he got back a week later and I was free, I made him pay be back in _full, _and that left a mentally disturbed sister and a slightly horrified Neji in its wake. I believe I smiled for _days _after that incident.

About the middle of the month we were summoned to Tsunade's office. Apparently something was very wrong. She cleared her throat and began to speak.

"It would seem that there are more missing nin popping up into my reports," she said, "One of them was known for being a jinchūriki. Do you have any information?"

"We can't tell you that," we reminded her, "That goes against everything."

"Damn it!" she slammed her fist down on the desk, the wood groaning in pain.

"Even if we _could _tell you, we are not clairvoyant. I have no earthly idea what you are talking about," said Yuki, "Honest. Who _was _this person?"

"Her name was Fu, from Takigakure, it would seem that she didn't associate with people much," said Tsunade, "I am just worried."

"Look if she is anti-social, she probably wants to be left alone. Jinchūriki aren't what most people consider 'friendly'," I told her.

"So you have no idea?" she said rubbing her temples, "This complicates things."

"Well not really, why?" I asked.

"Nothing...," she said pausing, "Look your next mission is to gather information on this area here. There are rumors that it could be an enemy hideout and it was nearby where Fu went missing. Though we aren't exactly sure which one it could be."

"So we are screwed," I said, "Well shall I make sure my Will is in order?"

"Not funny," said Yuki dryly, "Anyway, why us?"

"You two are very efficient of gathering info," she said before handing us the papers, "Your team mates are already ready. Go."

After receiving our mission we headed Northwest towards Takigakure. We reached the border between the Land of Fire and the country Takigakure resided. No sooner had we entered the unnamed country that we were presented with armed forces against us.

"Turn back," said one of the shinobi that was pointing a water sword at us, "You have no permission to be here."

"Actually, we kinda do," I said taking out a scroll and presenting it to the shinobi, "I believe it is addressed to Shibuki."

"Hn," breathed the shinobi, "Well Fu was a beast and I doubt anyone would miss her. If it is part of your investigation, then follow me. You are not allowed anywhere out of my sight. After your buisness then you leave."

"Understood," said Hayama.

When we arrived at the site, there was destruction everywhere. Whoever did this put up one hell of a fight, but what disturbed me was the scorch marks and what looked like retreating plant life that littered the ground. Hayama had us scour the area for any clue that might lead us to where she was, but we couldn't find any. If they took her, then they wouldn't have been far ahead of us, three or four days at most. With the rumors of the hideout, it make things feel very off. I could feel a sense of fear creeping up in the back of my mind, screaming at me that I should not be here. Shaking off that feeling, I didn't watch where I was going and tripped over a rock poking up out of the ground.

After picking myself up and rubbing my nose after my most gracious face plant, I noticed only one thing on the ground. A small scrap of burned black fabric. I didn't know if the heat of whatever torched this place got to it, or it was naturally black but I kept it none the less. Any clue is a good one, right? Returning to Hayama and the others, I showed them the fabric.

"What the hell?" yelled Tanzo, "You couldn't have found a kunai or something other than a ratted mass of thread?"

"Shut up will you," I scoffed, "Look, by the looks of things. I don't think these two used kunai, much less cared about what happened other than killing one another. What strikes me as odd is where is her body?"

"It could have been incinerated," said Tanzo, "We are literally in the middle of a fucking ash tray."

"Then if she is dead, where is the tailed beast?" I asked, "Last time I checked, dead jinchūriki lead to one rampant raging hormonal beast, metaphorically speaking."

"How would you know?" asked Hayama.

"These people are prisons, the beasts their prisoners. If the cage gets broken, then the inmates jump out," I explained, "Or if you were a prisoner of war and your cell was broken to shit, you would stay there?"

"Point," said Tanzo.

"Who the fuck cares?" yelled the shinobi escorting us, "Bitch is good riddance."

"Excuse me?" I said eyes locking onto him.

"She was a fucking bitch. Hated the lot of us, anytime you approached her, you were never seen again. Serves that monster right!" he said smiling. _Fucking SMILING?_

About the time I had him in my hands, choking the life out of him, Tanzo, Yuki, and Hayama were on me. They managed to pin me on the ground.

"You BASTARD!" I yelled tearing at the ground.

"You didn't know what she was like!" he yelled.

"Really?" I said grabbing the nearest limb of his.

As soon as I touched his ankle the memories poured in.

_"Hey wait up," said a girl with mint hair and pretty orange eyes._

_"No way!" he said, "Mother said not to associate myself with anything like you."_

_"What?" she said._

_"You are not even human!" he yelled, "You have that thing inside you, you are nothing but a filthy tainted creature."_

_The laughs and torments continued. Time fast forward and instances became a blur. There were a few other instances where she would be plauged by teasing or abuse. Eventually she stopped trying and gave up on being friends. Eventually she began to hate everything and everyone. She became more violent, short tempered, and vicious in combat. Her teachers were worried about her harming other students, so they passed her on early. The last few memories he had were of her a young teenager._

_"Touch me one more fucking time," she hissed, "What do you care worthless...Better be glad I didn't kill you, not that anyone would miss you."_

_"Bitch broke my arm!" he yelled, pain now moving to my own._

_"Thought you could sneak up on me?" she said slapping him, "Fuck this shit."_

_The last memories of her was her walking off. _

Tears rolled down my cheeks as I released my grip. I stopped struggling and laid limp there in the dirt. Yuki's alarms when off and convinced the others to let me go. I didn't even pick myself up. I curled into a tight ball and stayed there for a moment. There was no telling all the hell this poor girl went through and the dumb ass in front of me dared to insult her. A few moments passed and I rose slowly from the ground. Looking up at him, showing the shadow that was now surely cast in my eyes.

"You never deserved her," I said softly, "Why is it that people like you are around. There is no point in having oxygen thieves live. Fuck this shit."

I turned the same way she did in his memories and walked off, charred shred of fabric in hand. It was far better to walk off at that moment than to spend my entire day beating the living shit out of everyone. I hated people, close minded idiots. It was frustrating to think that these were the kind of people that the majority of the population consisted of. I wanted to puke. I shook off the numb feeling and nerves before brushing away the last droplets of water still clinging to my face. I wrapped the cloth in a protective pouch before I stuffed it in my back pocket. After everyone else was satisfied with questioning they brushed passed me and we continued to search for this rumored hideout.

Even after days of searching, nothing turned up. After we sent off our last message, we camped for the night. Tomorrow we may have new orders to return home, since this was a wild goose chase after all. I laid down by the fire, trying to relax but the previous days work were taking its toll. Not a single trace of this girl that was special. I couldn't believe anyone would put people through that situation, but I have had my fair share of interesting hardships. I laid there, wide awake, as I had been for three days. I guess my mind told me we would find her, while my heart kept hoping. When my shift was up, I found a good tree branch to roost on while keeping watch. The night sang away with the crikets, bats, birds, and all other noctornal wildlife it had. When morning hit, I was already in the middle of breakfast. It wasn't anything special but fish and primisions sounded nice about now.

In the middle of breakfast our orders came in to come home, and I couldn't be happier. A good solid days worth of locking myself in my room while painting sounded very relaxing. We packed up after breakfast and made it swiftly back. No sooner had I entered the door an odd sight presented itself. Sai was in our house...our previously _locked _house.

"I apologize for the intrusion, but I wished to speak with you," he said.

"Fuck," I hissed, "What in the Nine Circles of Hell do you or _he _fucking want!"

"Don't snap!" said Yuki, "Jesus ever since that mission you have been so anti-social phyco."

"I have good reason," I said before locking eyes with Sai, "Spill it."

"There is a rumor going around about you two," he informed.

"So? Rumors go around all the time," I said crossing my arms.

"This one brandishes a high possibility of your promotion," he stated.

"Tell your boss to shove it so far up his ass he is tasting daisies every time he inhales," I said, "And to add more flavor, he can kiss my pale skinny ass while he burns in hell for a long, _long_ time."

"I was not told to come back empty handed," he said reaching behind him.

"Touch that brush or your scroll and I will personally make your life a living hell for the next three days," I warned.

"Then you will come willingly?" he asked.

"Fuck no, but I would rather not mess up my house," said Yuki.

"This message," he said holding out a scroll, "Is for you. I would like you to read it."

"Such honey coated words to cover up the venom your forced to dish out," I said grabbing the scroll,"Pity...I actually like you."

"I can not open the package myself, but I must have your answer," he said.

"_Fuck no,_" I said tossing the parchment across the kitchen, "Damn bastard. If he is curious on what we can do...nothing no normal shinobi can't. If he wants to force us to the welcome wagon, he can just fucking croak. Now out Sai. I need some artistic therapy and unless you want to see what hot metal paint does to skin...clear out."

I stormed off to my room and began to work on some rather messy and violent works of art.

**Yuki's POV**

"Oh dear," I said, "Alright, you heard miss 'I can't express myself except through anger', out."

"Is she _normally _like this?" he asked.

"No, but she has had one long, bad week. I think some Ben and Jerry's is in order...along with lots of cartoon movies," I said going over to the fridge and getting out the 'heavy artillery' of Creme Brulette.

Sai disappeared rather quickly and I continued my process of getting her anywhere other than pissed. It was one long night though. I managed to con her out of her room and get her to watch some cheesy movies with me. She seemed to perk up a bit, at around six o'clock my stomach told me it was time to eat something. So I made us a quick stir-fry for dinner.

"So were they that bad?" I asked her.

"No the noodles were just right," she shrugged.

"No you baka!" I lightly tapped her on the head.

"I-d...no talking," she pouted.

"Suit yourself," I sighed, stealing the last bit of ice cream, "One of these days you are going to have all that bottled up stuff explode...I do not, repeat, do not want to be anywhere near you when that happens."

"I pity the fool who is," she said softly.

"Well that so called fool may just be your boyfriend," I reminded her.

"Shit," she cursed under her breath, "Keep reminding me why I stay sane."

"You sane? When the hell did that happen?" I said raising both eyebrows in mock surprise.

"Can it cookie monster," she growled.

"One of the perks of the dark side," I laughed.

"Yeah, shame you stole all mine when we signed up for this 'venture," she said with an actual smile.

"Alright missy, bed," I said getting up and shutting of the ending credits to the movie.

"I don't wanna," she pouted.

"Well six a.m comes awful early and I am so not going venture into your god knows what state it is in, room," I told her.

We got ready for bed and then said goodnight before tucking ourselves in for the night. I could only hope that she wasn't letting things get to her. If she was, things were going to get awfully interesting at the most in opportune time.

* * *

1. **Frichen-** German meaning 'to strike', it is what the word fuck is derived from. Isn't that abso-fucking-loutely special? If you wish to amuse yourselves: http:/ www. youtube .com/ watch ?v=5EXqPriuHHI just don't have parents, teachers, older/younger siblings present... Another note **Schadenfreude **is another one of my favorite words...lol. Pleasure derived from the misfortunes of others, but who wouldn't laugh at the poor sap who just fell down the stairs...I have been in both shoes...better to laugh it off than the worst case scenario.

**jinch****ūriki****-(**"Power of Human Sacrifice") are humans that have tailed beasts sealed within them. They exhibit extraordinary powers, and in some cases are more powerful than their tailed beasts, because they have the intelligence to use the beasts' powers effectively. Most of them are regarded with distan and abandon. The only three that seemed (that are known) to have earned respect are Gaara, Killer B, and Naruto.

**Shibuki- **In Naruto Episode 198, he was helped by Team 7. He was the son of the former leader of Takigakure before his father was killed after drinking "Hero Water". To protect his village, he drank some himself, though it was the combined efforts of Saksuke, Naruto, and him that saved the village. He is now the leader of Takigakure.

**Naruto's Arrival: **5 months

*****Added notes:** The jutsus and gadgets I mentioned above are all things they are working on, well most of them anyway. I can't have them be too good, that would make them seem boring. But for now they have a few projects to work with over the course I am taking them on.

* * *

**Sukaretto Miyuki**: To answer your question, no she wouldn't have been able to see his eyes because of the mask...Thank you. I wanted to balance them out to give the family a bit more depth other than what you would normally see with them.

**Alpenwolf: **Well yeah, that is kinda true I guess for the story progression. As for Haruko, there really isn't much to say about her now anyways...she may be mentioned in future chapters, if I feel the need to bring her back, but other than that she is kinda done...Well you can see for yourself. I don't know if I am going to do a heavy Yuki chapter in the future or not but I may if I am going to begin exploring a certain story possibility...


	23. Chapter 23: Butterfly Effect

_I was in a dark room, I could neither tell what was up nor down. Around in a slight circle were figures, cloaked and almost see through. That is when the screams began filling my ears. Horrible, I couldn't tell where they were coming from and I couldn't move. Were they mine? Where they someone else's? The shadow like people were moving, but the screams made their voices barely a whisper...who were they? There was something oddly familiar and totally alien about them. I wanted to cry out for help but there was no voice left in me...then the wave of pain hit...it was horrible. I couldn't breathe, think, feel, blink...everything _hurt _ and there wasn't anything anyone could do. In the back of my mind I tried to wake myself up...it was only a dream right? A hellish nightmare but still only a dream..._

_"...deal with it..." _

_A voice...?_

_" It is going according to..."_

_Who is talking? What are they saying..._

_"Yes..."_

_Wait I know that one...where have I heard them before...wait...the screams they are..._

I jolted awake with a migraine. Quickly grabbing my head as I threw the covers back and made my way to the bathroom. If I had anything in my stomach earlier, it was all wretched up. After my ten minute gag fit, I flushed the toilet and then began to scrub my teeth vigorously. No one wants to taste bile in the morning. I hoped that the nightmares wouldn't start up again. Every now and again there was a scene that Yuki and I would dream about...the usual, people dying, people crying. Though no matter how many times we had that same nightmare, the feelings were still the same but they felt like they were new and we couldn't shake the feeling of dread. Sometimes we would dream about Orochimaru, Sasuke...if we were lucky Naruto, Gaara, and only a handful of others.

Yuki had heard my earlier fit and was already in the doorway with tea, "Who was it this time?"

"I don't know...they are familiar...maybe the Akatsuki?" I said rising out my mouth and then taking the cup and downing it.

"If I knew they wouldn't lock us away for it, I would say we need therapy," she sighed.

"Right now if it gets rid of the nightmares, I wouldn't mind," I said before she frowned at me.

"Does this have to do with Fu?" she asked, "You were upset last night. Maybe that had something to do with it."

"Maybe," I said before I let my mind wander.

"Well we have a mission to prepare for," she said before stripping down.

"Wait until I leave!" I said, scurrying out, "Fine, I got breakfast detail."

I made breakfast burritos again for breakfast and ate while Yuki was in the shower. After she got out, I grabbed my shinobi gear and then took my shower. After getting ready, we headed out. When we grouped up at the Main Gate, there was an unfamiliar face. Apparently Hayama had to be called away and we were stuck with a new sensei.

"Our task is to infiltrate this area here and see if we find anything useful," said the new team leader.

"Er, a name would be nice," I said.

"Name is unimportant right now," she said, "but if you must pry...my name is Shinia."

"Last name?" asked Yuki.

"That is my last name," she said before she began to run ahead.

The area we were infiltrating wasn't that far away, so it only took us three days. Shinia wasn't very talkative and she always seemed to be watching Yuki and I. It unnerved me but I paid no mind. We decided to make camp for the night so we would be rested when we entered and alert. As we set up camp, Shinia started to decide to make small talk.

"Nice tattoo," she said spotting one of my 'temps' on my shoulder, "When did you get it?"

"Last week," I said, "Doesn't really bother me if that is what you want to know."

"I am just worried about it getting infected," she said.

"I doubt it," I said rolling my eyes, "It is almost healed, I am a quick healer."

"And a med-nin," she said, "Heard you got your qualification."

"Yeah," I said finishing setting up a tent.

"So what can you and your sister do?" she asked again.

"Er," I said looking at her, not liking where this questioning was going, "Running, jumping, climbing trees, kicking ass, justsu, and all the other shinobi shit."

"I mean specifically, what is your element," she said narrowing her eyes.

"Water, Tanzo is fire, Yuki is wind," I told her, "What is yours?"

"Lightning," she said.

"Kudos for you," I said, "You would work well with Tanzo and I...if you can do collaboration justsu."

"I specialize with long range attacks," she said, "My weapons allow me to charge them with lightning to increase their cutting and damage capability. That pack on your back what is it for?"

"Medical supplies," I lied.

"Oh," she said, "Finished?"

"Yeah," I said.

We kept the conversations light during dinner and we turned in early. The next morning, breakfast was light. Shinia split us up so we could cover more ground, which wouldn't have been a problem if she kept it to the normal Yuki and I and Tanzo left with her, but she split it up so that Yuki was with Tanzo. She declared it was to compliment the elements but I still didn't like the idea too much. Keeping my guard up, I trie to scan the area, but the obnoxious voice of Shinia kept getting in the way.

"Please shut up," I told her, "If this place was riddled with enemies, they are fully alerted and ready to...wait what is that sound?"

Chirping. I had now discovered this place was defiantly not deserted and was in fact inhabited by one person who I really didn't want to see right now. Fuck. I tucked in my body and rolled out of the way just as a chidori passed over me and cut my bun in half, freeing my hair. Shinia never stood a chance as she was stabbed in the chest with none other than Sasuke's katana. I wasn't sure if it was a fatal blow because I was in the midst of shutting my eyes tight and opening up my telepathy.

"Fighting blind?" came his cold voice.

"Not quite Sasuke..." I said using my Impression jutsu to look through his eyes, "If you can't make eye contact..that Sharringan shit don't work."

"Impressive that you know about the Sharringan," he said, "I don't recognize you."

"Kori of Konoha," I said grabbing a scroll that I had sealed some of my Yellow Sing explosions in, "Pleasure to meet you Sauske Uchiha, nearly last of his clan. I am sorry for what happened but you are going to kill me and I must defend myself. Release!"

I tossed the scroll and held onto the end of the small scroll, allowing it to unravel and release the several small explosions in his face. It wouldn't last long but hopefully he would be stunned enough for me to try and bind him. When his vision faded I did my hand seals and brought out my orange pigments.

"Impression Art: Orange Bindings!" I said as I cracked an eye open to aim at his legs as a chain formed and began to snake around his ankles.

Unfortunately he used his chidori and grabbed the chain, that was still being woven with my water chakra. The lightning traveled up my chakra and zapped me and I was stunned long enough for him to break out. Back flipping, I narrowly avoided having my head cut off. I landed and tried something kinda new, but hopefully effective.

"Impression Fusion: Violet Bonds!" I yelled mixing metallic purple pigments in with the orange, forming a sticky mass of rope that weaved together quickly before tossing it on him.

He tried to swat it away and was surprised when the rope stuck to his wrist. In a few seconds I 'saw' he was entangled within the bindings that began to harden and stiffen. Thankfully the metallic paint caused him to shock himself as he tried to break out with another Chidori. I took the chance to try and get to my team leader, but it was too late, she had bled everywhere and her heart had finally stopped. I sighed as I mumbled something about her being a stupid person right before everything went black. I am not quite sure what happened but I was positive I was alive.

I woke up in a cell not too long after, bewildered that Sasuke kept me alive. Also in the cell were Yuki and Tanzo, though Tanzo looked worse for wear. Our hands were tightly bound, so we couldn't use hand seals. I went over to Tanzo and healed him as best I could, since the Mystical Palm Techniqe didn't require hand seals. My work was far sloppier than what I would have liked, but I stabilized Tanzo and that was enough.

"A med-nin," said the familiar rasp of Orochimaru.

"What is a matter snake, body not working for you?" I asked.

"Oh what spunk," he laughed, "So I will be entertained before I kill you."

"Nah you won't kill us," I said, "You are interested in what we can do. I am sure you have heard Yuki."

"Kabuto, he had some trouble," he said," And I find that you were able to bind Sasuke."

"So, I know how he fights. The chidori, the Sharringan, sword, really fast, really angry, you know the works," I said laying down.

"Interesting," he said, "but anyone who has had contact with his former team mates could tell you that."

"Hn," I said, "Something I would know that somebody else wouldn't. Well you want the Sharringan, and you tried to get Sasuke's elder bro Itachi, believing he'd be an easy target. However when he pwned your ass, you limped away and still have the ring from the Akastsuki."

His eyes narrowed,"So you do know something."

"I know a few names of the Akastuki," I rambled, "I know about Danzo, I know about the Uchiha, I know a lot about a lot of things."

"So I might have some use for you," he said.

"Yeah but you won't get anything out of us, not until we talk to Sasuke," I said, "I wanna know something."

"What do you want to know?" he asked.

"Well why he hates everything," I said shrugging, "Nothing too important."

"So this is the last request?" he asked.

"Well sorta," I said.

Sasuke walked through the shadows and up to the cell. Orochimaru had Kabuto escort him away. I knew that Orochimaru wouldn't have much longer, given the fact I kept Yuki and I knowing about his 'illness' a secret. Give or take a few months and he would meet his end, but right now I was concerned with Sasuke. I knew better than to try and grab him, but there was a lot I needed to know in a short amount of time. Right now, he could be saved...a small splinter of hope, though the whole idea seemed foolish and was fragile.

"Sasuke," I said looking away from him.

"Afraid of my Sharringan?" he asked coolly.

"Not really," I said, now locking eyes with him, "You'll go blind. I do not fear you, though I know the monster you wish to become and may if given the chance."

"Monster?" he laughed, "The only monster is Itachi."

"Really?" I asked him flatly, "Well then I wonder. Why did he spare you? Why did he...leave?"

"He spared me so that I may one day kill him like he did my entire clan! He left because he was a traitor to Konoha," he spat.

"Well he wasn't a traitor...he just didn't like them anymore," I shrugged, "Though as much as I'd like to hug you, with that Sharringan of yours, it would be tricky to deal with."

"Why would hugging me cause issue?" he asked.

"Well, when I touch people, I see the world through their eyes. Yours are being corrupted and are failing. Though there really isn't any good or evil, just how far you are willing to go to prove you are right, to live, to survive," I said, "My curse has progressed to going into people's minds...seeing history as they lived it."

"Curse?" he asked.

"Yuki and I are special, she sings and I see. Reverse of how we really are to be honest. I suppose Kami gave us that after we were attacked and injured so we wouldn't have to face the same fate again," I told him, "You know you really are loved."

"Don't change the subject," he said narrowing dark eyes.

"I am not," I said, "I am just saying you are loved. By a lot of people really. Those who tried to stop you when you ran, your best friend, your former team mates, though I can not say I personally love you."

"If they loved me then they should have stayed out of my way," he said, "Pathetic lot, all of them. Holding me back."

"Well when you decide to stop looking at your life half empty, worthless, and crawl out of the cage you put yourself in...I may have called you friend," I sighed, "Look there isn't any easy way to do this...but if I told you, you killed Itachi...or will kill him. How would you respond?"

"I would like to know how you came by that knowledge," he said.

"Once upon a time I wasn't from here. I was attacked by someone a long time ago and woke up in Konoha. They helped me become what I am now, give or take a few scars," I said.

"That does not make sense," he said.

"Neither do you for that matter," I said, "You are the typical angsty, emo, gothic stereotype* placed in a world where killing and violence is the bread and butter apparently, only fueling your hatred for everything. I can understand history has its effect, but I can't understand why you are too immature to deal with it."

"How dare you!" he snapped, grabbing my shirt and pulling me closer.

"Oh, I dare," I smiled, "You haveta forgive my mouth. Gets me into more trouble than boys."

He released me, "You aren't worth the trouble."

"Hey, when I see Naruto...do you want me to say anything to him?" I asked.

"Tell him, he is dead," he said.

"You know...the Mangekyō Sharingan...it won't appear for you. Will it?" I told him.

"What would you know?" he asked.

"Enough to tell you how to get it...it isn't what you think it is. Though if I tell you how to get it, then there is no hope for you sir," I told him, "Well that is if I let you get it how you would get it."

"I don't follow," he said.

"Well if I leave and let history take its course, you will get it alright, but you are going to be very twisted, beyond hope. You will go blind and suffer more than anyone can bare, and eventually...if I got my planning right, you will die. Now if you come with me, I promise you will get it, along with enough of a fwack to the head to hopefully make you see what really matters," I told him.

"Kori," Yuki warned.

"Look just once, just _once _I would like to know that or thing we have can be used for benefit!" I told her.

"But we can't use it for _our_ benefit," she said.

"I am not...What benefit do I gain from Sasuke coming with us?" I asked.

She kept silent, unsure of what her answer was going to be. The obvious didn't help her, bringing a smile to Naruto's and Sakura's faces. Though I knew if I took this gamble I would risk changing the future for the worse. Though if I took this risk, I could hopefully save many lives...hopefully.

"What about Orochimaru?" he asked.

"He is yours," I said, "You will need it. You don't have to decide now, but when we come back for you...come with us."

"What makes you think you can get out of here?" he asked.

"I have a good feeling," I smiled, "Look. Power, no power, revenge...I will hand it to you on a silver platter if you come."

"I don't need help killing Itachi," he scoffed.

"Wasn't planning on helping, just pointing you in a direction," I said keeping a lot of things from him.

"You know where I can find him?" he asked.

"Maybe," I said in a sing-song voice, "That depends...are you going to try and stop us?"

"Perhaps," he said narrowing his eyes.

"Like I am going to tell you before we get out," I said puffing up my cheeks, "I am not that foolish. I have someone very important to me back home. By the way things are going well."

"If I give you my word that I will allow you to leave here," he started.

"Oh no. I want your promise as an Uchiha that all three of us make it back home to Konoha alive and spoiled and you escort us out, looking like you are trying to re-capture us," I said, "Otherwise, no can do."

"We shall see," he said, "If you are telling the truth...what did Itachi used to do to me when we were alone?"

I bit my lip to keep from giggling, "He used to take his fingers and poke you in your forehead. Annoyed the shit out of you too."

Sasuke stood there, his eyes went wide for a moment before he regained his composure, "How long will it be before you return?"

"Less than five months," I said, "You have that long to deal with Orochimaru...that should allow immortal bitch to weaken...When you do...I want you to wait at the hideout Orochimaru will take you to. There, I will leave you with something to contact me by or you can wait for Narutard to get you."

"How will I know that you won't betray me?" he asked.

"Well..." I said, "Cross my heart hope to die, stick thousand needles in my eye. No just kiddin'. I made a promise to protect things important to me. You are currently important, though not in the same way as others...you still are. If I betray you...may lightning strike me dead."

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The **Mangekyō Sharingan** (万華鏡写輪眼; Literally meaning "Kaleidoscope Copy Wheel Eye") is an advanced form of the Sharingan that has only been activated by a handful of Uchiha. The Mangekyō Sharingan has the ability to control the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox,[1] although Madara Uchiha is the only one to accomplish this milestone.[2] It also grants them access to other powerful techniques. The Mangekyō Sharingan is distinguished from a normal Sharingan by its appearance, which changes the form of the tomoe seal. Unlike the Sharingan, the appearance of the Mangekyō Sharingan differs from user to user

The Mangekyō Sharingan is acquired through the death of the person closest to the Sharingan user. To expedite this occurrence, Uchiha throughout history have killed their closest friends in order to meet this criteria,[3] though how Kakashi gained his Mangekyō Sharingan has yet to be explained. To obtain the Mangekyō Sharingan, one must _feel_ the emotion of losing a friend or family, as merely killing them or watching them die will not activate it.

Over time, use of the Mangekyō Sharingan's techniques deteriorates the user's eyesight to the point of blindness. Only by taking and transplanting the eyes of another Uchiha clan member can the vision be restored, a process that results in the creation of an _"Eternal" Mangekyō Sharingan_ (永遠の万華鏡写輪眼, _Eien no Mangekyō Sharingan_). The tighter the blood ties are between the "donor" and the receiver, the better it is for compatibility, siblings for example

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* Yes I do realize the words 'emo' and 'goth' are two similar 'trend' styles or lables talking about two _very _different types of people.

'Emos' are usually troubled teens that go through bullying and 'huddle' (though not necessarily, they can be very independent individuals) together and share emotions and pain, sometimes this is a positive or negative turn of events. Reasons they are like this vary from emotional pain from bad experiences to the excuse to 'fit in with the crowd'. The positive is that their friends give them the support that they need, though not all 'Emos' are lacking in emotional/mental stability or feel the need to be acknowledged by everyone. The negative side effects are cutting themselves and showing them off to people to show how 'bad ass' they are or how 'miserable' their life is because they lack the maturity to rationalize their environment, and this 'negative' path often leads to mental instability leading to death in the 'worst case scenario'. Noticeable traits or stereotypical themes of the genre: Big, bright colored choppy hair, eyeliner and makeup of various colors mixed with black, 'scars' painted on or scars from 'cutting', boys dressing in 'girl pants' (not always the case), 'emocore' band t-shirts, and usually vans or converse. They are usually very 'fashionable' and clean cut, but they can wear anything and still see themselves as 'emo'. This is usually a phase. Google would have more on the subject.

"Goths" refer to a similar fashion statement usually to 'shock' friends, family, and other peers. These kids do this to prove how 'individualistic' they are. Dressing in black, being unusually pale, sporting vampire or 'death' motifs, black nail polish, writing angsty 'death/suicide' poems in thier 'spooky journal', and other 'anti-social' behaviors can be seen as the stereotype. Often mislabeled as 'Satan worshipers', these people are NOT so. While if they follow 'goth' as a life style, you will find various groups of 'subculture goth' like you can find various flavors of Jolly Rancher candy. They are generally intelligent and kind, though they sport the 'black' look as a form of expressionism and art, venting out feelings, thier creativity, or just to see how many people would approach them with a positive outcome. Not all 'goths' sport black, some use neons, gitter, metals, deck out in all white, and use really 'anything' you can find to add to thier creative style. A good book to read on this culture would be Raven Digitalis' "Goth Craft: The Magickal Side of Dark Culture" and a Youtube vid, Voltaire: What is Goth? Other than that, Google it.

On another note in high school I was split between the two. I was 'emo' because of emotional distress and past bad experiences, but I was 'goth' because I wanted to prove my individuality and didn't want 'fake friends'. I eventually got out of my 'emo' phase and still was 'gothic' and live the lifestyle. On any day of the week you can see me in jeans and sporting a funny t-shirt being 'in color', or to a mostly black with spots of neon color. I would do the white thing, but dirt is magnetized to me...I can not own white anything, two seconds and it is stained beyond bleach...

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**The butterfly effect** is a common trope in fiction when presenting scenarios involving time travel and with "what if" cases where one storyline diverges at the moment of a seemingly minor event resulting in two significantly different outcomes.

I believe this is an appropriate thing to use. Since origionally the two girls were not part of the Naruto-verse in anyway and now they are...a lot of changes are bound to happen. However, what happens may or may not agree with you lot, so I will try my best to keep things...similar? I suppose that could be a good word to use atm.

I can tell you right now the a few of the 'directions' this story could have went:

Danzo takes the girls and they work for him.

The Hyuga clan denies Kori, but she meets Neji anyway to prove they were wrong.

The Akatsuki begin making thier move and Hayama's team finds them.

The appearance of Orochimaru in Saskue's body. O.O...

The girls on a mission encounter (someone, didn't decide on who) that tells them they were experiments and they got free. (still really considering this one)

Kori's Black color turns her into a 'monster' (there are reasons, but she is more like a beserker), similar to that of the curse seal that Sasuke has and the Kyuubi that possesses Naruto in times of his stress. (thinking about using this one)

As you can see there are some radical 'plots' that my mind came up with, but I had to ask myself: Does this set up for the Shippunden-verse? or Can they cope with this and manage? and a lot of other questions that didn't get answered correctly to me. If you guys like some of the set up 'plots' then what I can do is give you guys two options in later chapters.

If you guys think that the butterfly effect would be useful/intrestig then don't hesitate to tell me. This would give me a chance to see what you guys think, and if I can fit in the chosen likings, then I feel acomplished that I have my readers helping me. If the decision is made...I will credit your name at the end of the chapter and why I must give you credit. So I will NEVER EVER steal ideas...it is wrong. I think someone's ideas are a part of them, similar to thier soul. If I steal a portion of that, then I have taken something more precious to them than most care to admit. I don't belive in the phrase 'You have to crack a few eggs to get an omlette.' Reason: there have been quite a few terrible people in history that have used 'eggs' (people) for some reason that was too much of a price to pay with little to no benifit to show for it.

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**Sukaretto Miyuki: **Ah yes, this and last chapter (and possibly the future ones) are 'heavy' chapters, but it is building up to the more interesting bits. It brings me joy to know that with words I can create empathy for fictional characters in a universe that exists purely in one's imagination. Ah, my review. Sorry about that. I was tired when I wrote it. Some chapters come easier than others, but I was staying up late for myself to finish the chapter...For a while I couldn't figure out how to end it, but it was too short to end at the Fu part. It was also me trying to focus my sparattic mind to not 'set' anything in the line up, so right now I am officially 'winging' it...to a point. Unfortunately for Kori's character, she is going to have a hard time leading up to the return of Naruto. The Fu thing is going to leave her with some nightmares...as you can see, BUT don't worry about it much. She will manage to pull through it. Anyway, thanks for worrying about me. Makes me feel all fuzzy inside.

**Alpenwolf: **Yes it is archaic, old word. It was probably used a long time ago and just morphed when we English speaking Anglo-Saxons stole it. As for Doppelganger and Poltergeist, they can be used interchangeably. Both have spirit in the definition though doppleganger is used more often for a shapeshifter while poltergeist is used for an angry spirit. Some of my favorite English words because they are fun to pronounce are: magma, bouncy, comatose, chipper, asinine, and oxymoron. Those by definitions are: Sarcasm, masochist, vapid, oxymoron (as well), and riven.

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**River: ***gasp* They are in Orochimaru's Hideout...and talking with Sasuke. I know there isn't much chappy compared to the notes, but I needed to get this out there. I thought of a crazy idea that could happen. So...Do they convince Sasuke or do they escape with barely their lives...so opinions?

Now some of you may hate Sasuke...but this is where it gets interesting. If he does switch over to the 'good' side there will be changes in his personality for the 'better'. Some of you may love the Sasuke that there is now, but we don't know if he will live...and the friggin' _Masashi Kishimoto _is dragging it out...anyway...review!


	24. Chapter 24:Chivalrous Choices?

Alright readers, to answer some questions and to get things out of the way early, I am doing replies to reviews at the beginning of this chapter. I hope you will like this one because I think it is time to step on a few butterflies...

**Alpenwolf: **Well yeah I didn't want him to be instantly good! Oh god that would totally rip the whole -verse apart! God they are good but shit, it would take an act of god to get Sasuke to instantly transfer to the good side. I will be using the remainder of the months to work on it with Sasuke. I will work on his 'truth' and make it seem like their way is be best option. LOL Schwerts reminds me of _Mel Gibsons: Space Balls_. I had to look up Creed from the Black Cat wiki because I am unfamiliar with the character, but I can see Sasuke being like this...I really do and than you so much for the inspiration.

**Sukaretto Miyuki: **Thank you, I tried to make it as 'gored up' as possible without giving too much away, that is irony. Course we all know it is the freaking Jinchūriki having their tailed beasts ripped out of them...but they don't quite know that yet. The name wasn't Shinji...were you watching Bleach before you read this chappy? I don't think I will do run-offs...those would build up too much and it would be extra work this lazy writer doesn't want to do. I may do a couple Omakes but that will be about it. I was planning on leaving a 'temp tattoo' on Sasuke that way he could contact her...Since there was not actual location given (or I forgot) I can keep Kori close enough for her not to get drained too much but she hasn't used long distance jutsus like this so it will toll on her. Well the whole idea of Kori's Black Art was her unconsciously holding the negative emotions and thoughts of those she has touched, or those with 'dark chakra' like Sasuke and it causes her to go berserk because she can't quite handle the 'injustice' in the world. Hmm, knocking off Karin...tempting...very tempting...She was a bit useful in the anime/manga but I found her character quie shallow and just sad really. It was like Ino/Sakura/Hinata had a love child and that bitch just got all the bad traits. Having them split up would give me a chance to handle them separately and give you more of a view on Yuki's thoughts and experiences. The Fu thing, Kori's nightmares reappeared after she read through the memories of that one shinobi who was the cause of Fu's distain of her peers. Yuki was worried that the impact of the memories about Fu were affecting Kori, which is foreshadowing the Black Art. I must thank you for inspiration.. I love my readers! I enjoy that I am able to give you an escape, though there really isn't as much fighting in this -verse as there is in the cannon-verse.

* * *

I stared at him through the cell bars, waiting for an answer...yes, no, go fuck yourself, anything really. He simply looked at me either trying to size me up or read me. I found it very unnerving. The pinnacle of hatred in the future looked like he wanted to eat my soul for breakfast, though if I thought about it Nagato would have been a better person to use that excuse for.

"Are you willing to sacrifice everything?" he simply asked.

"Sacrifice?" I asked raising an eyebrow.

"If I do agree with any of the folly that your mind has come up with then you must offer me your service. I want the power to defeat Itachi and this would be my way," he said.

"First I need to show you something...and I need you to get closer," I said swallowing the bile in my throat, I did not want to do this, "Closer..okay there."

Neji was going to have my ass for this but it was necessary. I had to kiss him before he got the chance to activate the Sharringan. With my skin contact I was able to instantly get into people's minds with little to no resistance, and I wouldn't have chances like this. It was the only way I could talk to him without having people overhear the conversation. No doubt the snake ass' shadow, Kabuto had already heard our conversation. I began to appear in his mind, the landscape was fractured, barren and looked like someone took truckloads of black paint to decorate the place. To the north, there was the last scene he had of his family, bloody, broken, and bits and pieces all over the walls. To the west, it was his brother up in flames, not being burned by them but laughing, scorning Sasuke. To the South was Orochimaru, holding out his hand, snakes encircling them as they beckoned for him to come to power...The East...it was obscured, a large shadow was over it, preventing me from looking there. I am sure if I wanted to pry then I would find the memories of all the things he has killed and did to get here, and I wasn't sure I was ready for that.

Out of the shadowed place, Sasuke emerged, a black congealed substance seemed to cover him, infecting him as I could see the veins in his body through his pale skin. Even his eyes seemed to be constantly streaming the substance, I also noticed a cavity in place of where his heart resided. Inside there was a few shattered pieces of unidentifiable objects, perhaps loved memories rotted and twisted to his liking. He stepped forward slowly, like being possessed as he narrowed his eyes at me.

"Nice place," I said looking around, "Though I would fire the decorator."

"Where are we?" he asked.

"Your mind," I said, "Don't try using the Sharringan, yet. I need to talk to you."

"And you invaded my mind to do so?" he asked.

"Well it was the only way that I could ensure you would get the message loud and clear, along with no one disturbing us or hearing us," I said calmly,"There are three things that I must help you overcome if you are going to crawl out of hell. The first, and most important, what happened with your family. It was orchestrated by someone who hides in the shadows of Konoha, using illegal ways to try and take over the shinobi war. The second, your brother, your view of him was ochistrated by him so you could have something to live for. The third, it is the path I wish for you to avoid."

"Why would I believe you?" he asked.

"Well, after I explain everything, you can go into my mind when I escape, activate your Sharringan and you will come into my world. My mind, my soul, if you will. There you can view my memories that I have of the future, and no they are not fabricated. I can't dream up shit that horrible..." I said looking down, trying not to let my emotions get the better of me, "The one who you are trying to kill isn't your brother. His name is Danzo, he ordered your family to die because the Nine-Tails attack was from an evil man that placed the blame on your family. Enraged that they were moved to another part of the village, Madra only added fuel to the fire and helped spark an idea to take over Konoha for themselves, since Madra was spurned so long ago when Konoha was first formed. The Third Hokage, instructed by your brother kept you safe and away from Danzo so you could live..Itachi to help, in a twisted way took his best friends Mangekyō Sharingan to protect it from Danzo who wanted the Sharringan for his own twisted needs.

Now this is where your brother comes in. He loves you more than you know, through blackmail, pleading, and leaving the village, he ensured your safty. He was willing to foolishly burden the weight of his actions alone...and it is killing him. He is a fool, but he loves you and he wants your vengence to be placed on him so you would not suffer and you could redeem the Uchiha name and become a Hero, but the way you are going...you are dragging his name into the mud.

Finally, the path you are going down. I can show you a glimpse of what it achieves, nothing..nothing but hate, pain, blood, and tears. An empty place among empty lies. After showing you a glimpse, I will show you other things."

I held out my hand for him to take it. His hand looked corrupted and ancient, it looked as if it was ravaged by a disease long ago and now only a blackened shell remained. I clasped it and there was a sudden rush before the scenery began to change and morph into something else. All around was an open field, to my left was a waterfall that laughed as the water fell onto itself, though I found it strange the water was a friggin rainbow. Bubbles of memories floated in the air, both good and bad. On the right was a barren ancient tree that had a large black raven glaring down as a small fox sat at the base of the tree. I laughed at the irony of the whole thing...two signarure figures lived in my mind, for better or worse. A lush field surrounded us with various colors, I knew represented my friends and bonds I created with people. Taking in the sight I sighed.

"I think I have gone gay," I said placing my hand on my forehead, "I was expecting something bad ass, but a laughing rainbow waterfall? That is it, no more hanging out with Gai."

Sasuke looked like he was in pain with the scenery, "What the hell."

"I don't fucking know...Seriously, I haven't been in here. Well I know it is me but shit," I said now scratching my head, "Okay I can't change the scenery, as fucked as it is. So pick a memory...tell me and I shall call it up for you."

"My clan," he said, "I want to know what you know about them."

I concentrated and held out my hands. Suddenly a gray bubble floated down and landed in my hands. It then began to expand and soon it was like watching a movie on fast forward. I could understand some of it but I didn't know if Sasuke kept up. I looked over at him as he watched on.

"You getting this? Sorry I think rapidly," I apologized, blushing, "Just don't try any personal things. I don't want that being seen."

"I can follow," he said curtly, "The Sharringan apparently works with this."

"Good," I said, seeing all the memories playing out how I explained them. After the bubble finished playing, it popped and scattered into smaller bubbles, "Next?"

"Itachi," he said, "I want to know the lies you have of him."

"This will also lead up to the part you kill him," I said, "I will have to save that for last."

I then began to call memories of Danzo and Madra. I held one in each hand looking at them with distain.

"These asshats, should be avoided unless you are going to rip their spines out and fucking beat them to death with them," I said, "Danzo is fucked up and Madra is twisted as fuck. You will turn into him if you are not careful. Now no matter how much 'good looking' going with Madra seems, it is SO not the correct answer for you apparent emotional baggage dump."

I took them and slammed them against his skull and watched him collapse as the memories flashed through his mind. Aside from the twitching, I wasn't sure if I killed him or not. Though I was probably going to hear it from him if this caused him any pain, but hell the asshole deserves it...well he will if he keeps being a shitbag. After a few moments he rose up with a look of hatred in his eyes. He then grasped my neck and began applying pressure as he stared at me with that look...those eyes I had seen before...when he tried killing Danzo, Kakashi, even Sakura. I placed my hands on his wrists and stood there, not liking my lack of air flow. Using my sheer willpower I managed to break his grip.

"Dude what the fuck?" I snapped.

"He is an Uchiha!" he growled.

"No he was...because his clan were smart and kicked his ass out, he was the one who also convinced Itachi to kill the clan...so those two are really at fault. He murdered good people, he is the reason that Naruto is so...Wanna kill someone, go fetch. Madra would have used you as a rabid dog and 'gave' you power just so he could point you in a direction so you could kill. He would twist you into something that isn't even a shell of what you would become," I told him, "This hate...look at yourself. You are corrupt, twisted, aging...a shell. You aren't strong...you are weak, brittle...two shakes from cracking. Once you crack..."

I trailed off not liking what would happen. I finally found my voice again, "Now to show you your brother...and now that you have this information. What will you do?"

"I will kill them," he said seething.

"I feared as much," I said sighing, "Well this isn't going as well as I planned, but Konoha...are they safe?"

"Now that I know who caused all this..." he said before I saw something I thought I never should see, Sauske hesitate.

"The Mangekyō Sharingan, the memories I contain...they are the key," I said, "If I give you the keys...which won't be now...I want to go with you. I want to make sure that I can set things right. There are a few people that you will need...but first you need to kill Orochimaru."

"What is your issue with him?" he asked.

"He is a douche with a god complex...you will need a few of his things to face off with Madra and Danzo...trust me...those sick fucks will break out big cannons or a piece of your ass," I said before falling on one knee like a knight, "I promise to protect you as long as I we travel together. I will do all I can to give you the chance you deserve. If you fall into darkness then I swear that I will do everything to protect what is precious to me...and as cliche as this sounds, I will stop you."

I rose up and he looked at me funny. I smiled and held out my hand, "Sorry I have always wanted to be a Knight. Where I come from it is a high honor..."

"I see," he said shaking my hand, getting that slimy black filth all over my hand.

"Okay we need to get you out of here," I grimaced, "That corruption is spreading to me...any longer and we may have a problem."

"What about my brother?" he asked.

"When the time comes, I swear I will show you everything. However, I must deem you 'sane' or at least 'stable' before I give you the keys to some powerful shit," I told him.

"What if I took it?" he said, "I have been monitoring you with my Sharringan. I know how you summon memories."

I narrowed my eyes at him and the memories began to spiral and suddenly there was a tornado off in the distance as the sky now became cloudy, like some cliche horror movie or manga. I felt something in my muck covered arm before a loud crack of thunder was heard. I suddenly felt cold and agery.

"That would not be very nice," I said, voice deepening, "I would be very cross. This infection you brought here, was enough of a price. Your hate now breeds in me. So now I am part of you as you are me...Careful Uchiha. I will show you I am not to be fucked with..."

A moment passed and I took a deep breath before the sky cleared and I slung the muck off and looked at him, voice now returning to normal, "Fuck my life..."

"What?" he said, not even fazed by the whole ordeal.

"Dense ass," I groaned, "Alright. I will deal with Kabuto, you get Orochimaru...I need to fabricate something and coordinate with Yuki. This shit has just hit the fan...and I think...I think I am going to be stuck with you for a while now. Time to go back to normal..."

With the usual kick out of our minds, we found ourselves back in the cell room. I instantly backed off, now spitting Sasuke cooties on the floor. I mean he was cute and bad ass, but so not my type...and after a few thoughts he was kinda my type, but he was too high...okay my argument with myself was contradicting itself badly. There were very few traits, though minor, between him and Neji that made a huge impact between them...thankfully I feel for Neji. Oh thank god for Neji. Right now he would be the only thoughts keeping me sane since I was not able to go back to Konoha. I turned to Yuki and looked at her remorsefully. She caught the hint and walked up to me, hugging me with her neck.

"No...no," she said, "You are coming back."

"I can't," I said, "I have been infected...with hate. Haruko was the start, then Fu, and now Sasuke. I am afraid that if left alone without someone like him watching me then I will snap. I can feel it...like a cancer eating me away. I am slipping sis. My curse, it beckons me to darkness. Hopefully through darkness I can shed light. You have to go back to the light and tell those who I left behind I will be back. I swear."

"Cryptically stupid," she said, tears now presenting themselves in her eyes, "I won't let you."

"We can't repeat history. When you get home, tell Tsunade everything. Take back my protector, fuck it up...make it look like an accident. The official story is that you barely escaped with your life and I am held captive. Say this was the only thing you can find...I know it is a repeat but this will work. I promise. Give the protector to Neji, I will inscribe a message for him. Tell him to activate his Byakugan to see it...it will only work once," I told her, trying not to get caught up in her emotions, "Tell Naruto that you are going with him...and bring Sai...make sure Sai is there. I know the team will be off, but maybe...you can manage to replace peeps. I just changed things, and we can't predict anything anymore."

"Butterfly killer," she scoffed as she kicked me in the shins.

"Yeah yeah, I will make sure you are good and fucked up before you return home," I said.

"You two are forgetting that you are still in a cage," said Sausuke.

We both laughed, "We are only here because we wanted to be."

"Yuki," I said before backing up, "Sasuke, cover your ears. This is going to hurt like hell and knock ya back."

Yuki unleashed a wail that shredded the bars of the cell. I then concentrated and my temporary tatoo was a blue-orange type...I used the sword design to snake its way out of my skin and cut our bindings before it locked itself around my arm, much like Ichigo's cloth when he summons his bankai. I stepped out of the cage and had Yuki carry Tanzo since she didn't need her hands to do damage. Sasuke starred at us, I used the ink from the sword to spell out 'oh you will be deaf for a while too, sorry but I haveta blind ya now'. Now using my left hand, I rose my right sleeve to reveal several colored explosions etched into my skin, choosing the simple yellow to blind Sasuke. With that done, I grabbed Sasuke's arm to find the exit before we hauled ass down the corridors. While traveling down the hall I sped healed Tanzo's ears and the rest of his injuries, and my own eardrums. When we hit the surface, I had already taken my protector off and used my own blood to etch in the chakra for the message, making sure it was hidden from all others. I also inscribed a message in Yuki's protector for Tsunade, just in case Danzo was around. Handing mine to her, I bid her a quick goodbye before heading back into the area. Using my sensing abilities, I opened my mind and scanned for Kabuto or Orochimaru. When I felt that the coast was clear I made it back to Sasuke who was very pissed at me. After dodging a few blows and using the skills temporarily stolen from his memory when I found the escape route, I used my makeshift sword to defend myself. Though he broke through the shit and shocked the hell out of me for doing that to him. Before he could 'smite' me I grabbed his leg.

_Sasuke, I am going to heal your ears now...sorry I had to make it look like we broke loose. I am now your captive...so do what you will. I won't heal them enough to get full hearing but your ears are bleeding and I don't want them permanently damaged._

He stopped mid swing and allowed me to get up and I did as I promised. I fixed his busted eardrums but his full hearing wouldn't come back for two or three days...and I made it look like he still needed healing. After that, I had to stand there and received the worst beat down of my entire life. I wasn't sure how long I was knocked out but I woke up in bonds starring at Kabuto who was treating my injuries on, what felt like, a old sacrifice table or something...I shuddered while thinking about it.

"So she does wake," said Kabuto scrubbing the alcohol into my more sensitive wounds.

I hissed in pain, "Bitch."

"Pity Sasuke couldn't capture the others," he said, "Your sister would have been a most interesting test subject."

I rose up quickly and felt the chains restrain me back, muscles now screaming at me for the sudden jerk damaging them, "Fuck...you."

"I am sure," he said, "You would love that."

"Bastard," I muttered under my breath before speaking, "So where is Lord of the Snakes?"

"Dealing with Sasuke for failing to guard you, though I wonder how you managed to get out. It would seem that one of your tattoos was amazingly taken off your body with no scarring," said Kabuto, "I wonder if you regenerate that quickly or there is something you aren't telling us."

"A and B are good choices," I said sarcastically, "And here I wondered the actual intelligence of your group."

"You better be grateful that Orochimaru finds you so interesting, otherwise you would be dead," he said narrowing his eyes, "I had to spend four hours over your body stabilizing you."

"Fuck my life...so what extras did you add?" I said looking up at him.

"Nothing...yet," he said laughing evilly...

**Yuki's POV**

I ran as fast as I could towards home. I promised Kori I wouldn't go back. This was too important for us to fuck up...Three days later I found myself in Tsunade's office at four in the morning.

"I take it by Tanzo's condition, and the lack of your sister and sensei, things did not go well," she said.

I 'broke down' and pulled out the fake tears. I then handed her my headband and bit my thumb before rubbing the metallic plate...

**No POV**

The headband glowed slightly in Tsunade's hands before something seemed to grip her.

_Miss Tsunade...Hokage. I must regret to inform you that I am alive and I will not be returning to Konoha for some time. I am doing all I can to help Naruto's efforts to bring Sasuke back. It will take some time. His mental state is unbalanced at best. He also seems to have the ability to infect people with his hate because his charismatic nature...I ask you to gather a team, with Yuki leading it to search out Itachi. He is very ill and will need we need his help in the future..I have already worked things out with Yuki that she will tell him what I have done with Sasuke. Oh Orochimaru is nasty as always but he won't be much a threat anymore...and if it wasn't tacky I would have a belt sent to you. There is a lot I have to discuss and tell you but I leave that up to Yuki. Her songs can tell you a story about a evil man still living in the walls of your precious village. I hope that doing this I will save a lot more people than was saved...By the way Danzo is a douche...don't trust him...Though make sure Sai goes with Naruto to retrieve Sasuke...I will be there waiting...Oh official story is I didn't make it and am considered a POW...fabricate anything necessary. _

_I promised Sasuke I'd protect him and hopefully I can help save him...if he falls I will stop him, or at least slow his ass down. Love Kori, P.S Don't react to this message except for pity or some shit like that...and no yelling at my sis...I will be willing to accept any punishment you dish out when I get home._

As Tsunade was released she looked up at Yuki...

**Yuki's POV**

"I am sorry for your loss. So what happened?" she asked.

I then began to tell her the lie Kori and I came up with and then Tsunade told me that she would get people on it...and that I shouldn't inform Neji about Kori, she didn't want a repeat of Sasuke and Naruto. After telling her the instructions Kori gave to me, she dismissed me for the time being. She told me she would call if any info turned up and that I would be the first to know. After leaving I made a beeline to the Hyuga Compound. Thankfully Neji was at home, and was really pissed that I snuck into his room.

"Are you here to be part of Kori's plot?" he asked, "What is it this time? Dancing naked Gai, Kakashi doing the Can-Can, kidnapping, what?"

"Yes, Kori...but here," I said handing him her protector, "Byakugan will activate it. It only works once."

**No POV**

Neji did as Yuki instructed and he began to see symbols weaved into the metal and fabric. He concentrated on them as they spun together and then rushed to his mind.

_Dearest Neji. Don't flip your shit. Right now I am being detained due to my stupid code of honor shit you told me once would bite me in the ass...well I brought barbecue sauce. Right now I am helping Sasuke...giving him hope where he believes none is...do not come looking for me. I am fine, and I will be fine for the time being. I am so sorry I will not be able to see you and give you cuddles but this is something I must do. I love you, you know that right? If Tsunade don't kill me when I get back...you get your free shots. I will be thinking of you, Always and Forever._

Neji gripped the headband turned choker tightly as he glared at the thing. He was beyond pissed that his girlfriend would pull a stunt like this when not so long ago she was captured and tortured for days by his cousin. She had pulled some stupid stuff but this would have to top the list by far. He was in good mind to tell her to drop dead, but he loved her too much and would respect her wishes, for now. Calmly inhaling, he looked at her older sister.

"How long will she be gone?" he asked.

"I don't know, but I am in charge of dealing with the older brother. Do you want to help?" she asked him.

"Yes," he said, "It would give me something to do other than plotting how much time I am going to cut her off from those cuddles."

"Ouch," said Yuki wincing at the idea, "She deserves it. Right now go back to sleep. The team will be me, you, and Shikamaru. We need his tactical skills and will you being a Jonin now, we can do a three man cell. Tanzo may come or Hayama, but Tanzo is in the hospital right now and Hayama may just leave this be. He wasn't one to get into our messes, he learned that early. We just have to keep this on the down low until she makes her move."

"I understand," he said, "Now get out."

"Gotcha," smiled Yuki before she returned home and spent an hour cursing her sister before falling asleep.

* * *

**River: **Did I manage to get the truth believable? Lol, we shall see...So right now we are looking at the beginnings of Kori's Black Art, we get to see a turning point with Sasuke...and now Yuki has to tack down the aloof brother of Sasuke...Itachi. So right now we know that Sasuke is only going with Kori, letting her live, because she has the 'keys' to his Mangekyo Sharringan...or so she claims...she hasn't quite lied yet, so he is going with it...before he decides she isn't useful anymore. So here is were the sisters must 'go solo' for now. Well I think I paired Sasuke/Kori team and the now Yuki/Itachi team pretty well. Both sisters have complimentary stuff that would benefit the brothers...lol. Though the kick in the pants is that we gotta get to Itachi before he croaks...but it is okay we have time. So lets see what my mind creates now that I have started stepping on butterflies.**  
**


	25. Chapter 25:Pretty Convincing

AN: Okay the POVs have some time skips, though they are not specifically mentioned, it is like seeing one story and then going back to see another. Sorry for the possible confusion.

* * *

I closed my eyes and concentrated, being bound to his mind was beneficial at this point.

_Sasuke? Are you there? Just think about what you are going to say and picture yourself talking to me...just don't speak._

There was a silence in the room while Kabuto worked to bandage my injuries, and if I wasn't tied up, I would have slapped him. Kabuto kept a critical eye on his subjects, and I knew he was only examining me while playing doctor. If he kept up the work he might have found out about my tattoos.

They were made with pigments and my chakra, turning them into ink that was simply absorbed into my skin so they could set and I would always have some ink on me if I was in a bind, like now. Some of them were solid colors, like the upper left arm of my body, a simple rainbow ribbon wrapped itself around my shoulder to my elbow. My lower left contained my make-shift sword made of a mixture of colors, which I found out I could use a few weeks ago. If the colors were mixed they were stronger and more durable than the regular ones. Though if in the battle field my Fusion could only be used three times unless like the sword, I had already prepared it. On my right arm was a design of sparklers, made with metallic 'blue' iron, the 'sparks' were made with the Yellow Sting base and had red, orange, purple, blue, and green mixed into them. The purple mix worked like a sticky bomb, the blue would explode tiny metallic shards into the person, the red would make false wounds and had a powerful sedative mixed into the ink to give people the death state, and the green had various salves and would cover the person so they could heal, almost regenerate, while on the go. On my shoulder, it was a decoration of a wolf howling at the moon. Purples and grays created the wolf so it would have form for a long period of time, blues outlined it so it could be used for attacking, and tiny words were weaved into the lines so I could have it send messages if needed, thank you Inuzuka for the idea. On my interior forearms were kanji symbols for healing, heavy green ink created them, and poisons, and a mixture of toxic powder mixed with the red and green pigments so they would heal the skin over and rush into the bloodstream, kanji words meaning to fall were their symbol. The temporary tattoos had their uses, I didn't need to form hand seals for them since they were already created, just in a stasis like form. All I needed to do was mold my chakra and pump it into the design to reactivate them.

Sighing I waited for Sasuke to return my mental calls.

_I am here. What is it?_

_What is Orochimaru doing?_

_He won't shut up. Are you fairing well._

_Yeah, the shackles I can live without, and thanks for fucking up my leg...Nothing I can't handle...Kabuto is fawning over me...I don't know if he wants me for experiments or what, but it is creepy._

_He won't do anything without permission from Orochimaru._

_Not like I needed the reminder...but thanks. So can you speed up the 'he wants your body' thing?_

_He is speaking about it now._

_Good. Keep him thinking he is in control...I will handle Kabuto._

_You better keep your word._

_Yeah, yeah. I know you will kill me if I don't._

"You seem distracted," said Kabuto.

"Trying to figure a way out of here," I said, "Counting how many steps it is to the door, how thick these chains are, and how I can knock you out."

"Such haughty words coming from someone whose Chakra paths I have overloaded," he smiled.

"We shall she about that," I said grinning.

**Yuki's POV**

I was sent to Tsunade's office, I was ready for the worst case scenario. I knew I had to tell her everything but without Kori, this was going to be difficult. I had to keep everyone in the building under genjutsu, it was going to kick my ass, but it wasn't impossible. I would just have to make sure everything was set up right...With the help of Shikamaru and Neji, we set up mini amplifiers for my voice, in the shape of large crystal bowls, charged with my chakra. They were placed around the halls for 'decoration' in spots so they would carry my voice. I wouldn't be able to use the sound system because the electronic equipment wouldn't carry my chakra, yet...if I remodeled I could but I couldn't think about that now. I had already forewarned Tsunade of the additions I was making to her office and she allowed it as the bowls were used in healing therapy. I used the excuse that she was under a lot of stress, and Kori once suggested it to me a while ago, since she was in the 'weird healing' stuff as people called it.

As I stepped in her office, I made sure she closed the windows and kept the door open. She looked at me and then she gave the signal that she was ready, though she didn't want to be under genjutsu, she knew the risk of people finding out the Kori intentionally left Konoha, even if it was temporary. I sighed and inhaled before I sang. The sound began to vibrate the bowls and slowly release the chakra carried within. I watched as Tsunade and the others in the office fell into a deep slumber, and after a few minutes of draining work, I changed the tune so Tsunade would be awake when she heard this, and only her. When it was done, Tsunade woke up and looked at me.

"Is there a reason for all the theatrics?" she asked.

"Yeah, you are being watched. By Danzo, Kori and I kept it a secret until now, and the only reason that we are going to tell secrets is because it is safer this way. With Kori out of town, we are in danger. We haven't really been separated since Haruko's Incident, and I worry about her, but she has entrusted me to deal with Itachi. If things go well, we can have the remainder of the Uchiha clan on our side, though there is still one that will cause us trouble," I told her, "Right now that isn't important. Sasuke is pissed and Kori is going to keep him occupied while working with him to fix his broken mental state, as she calls it. The two people that he is going to be after will be a man called Tobi, and Danzo. Danzo fully deserves what is coming to him, if left to his own devices, he will try and take over Konoha and put Sasuke on the 'to die' list. He will convince others that Sasuke is a danger to everyone around him, and at one point in time that was true, but not anymore. I am also here to tell you there is a war coming. The ones called the Akatsuki will be the ones indirectly involved...we can't remember why but we know they are responsible."

"Explain why Danzo, an elder of our village deserves to die?" she asked.

"Aside from working with the enemy? He worked with Orochimaru and desecrated the dead for his own, gain. He wants to take control of the world to secure peace...to do this he has an illegal org under his belt...don't do anything to them right now, we need one...Sai, to join Naruto. Those bandages of his, cover up the Sharringan he has stolen from the rightful owners, and Sasuke is pissed about it. He was the one who also caused Nagato to turn out like he did...er, that is all I am going to say on that subject. So we got a lot to do and little time to do it. I have to find Itachi before Sasuke right now. I have to explain things to him. I will need the aid of Shikamaru and Neji to help me find him, after that, either I will group with them or a more suitable team. I will be staying in Konoha for now until I figure out a good spot to start looking. If those two are needed for anything then by all means have them assigned to the mission...Er, that is unless something comes up," I told her.

"What evidence do you have against Danzo?" she asked.

"If I get a hold of his blood, then you can scan it and it will show unusual chakra and cells from someone named Hashirama Senju*," I said, "But getting his blood would be a far stretch of my abilities...your proof can come after we kill him."

"You openly admit to planning on killing a village elder?" Tsunade said.

"Oh no, not me...I have to find a way to get Tobi. Kori is on Danzo's case, that is why she left...look arrest me but all you have are words, no one is around to hear you...they are trapped in my genjutsu. Even if they are in earshot they will forget everything when the song ends...only you will remember with the underlying reverse genjutsu I put up...so yeah. Er, I am trusting you to do the right thing here... As for the others, Shikamaru and Neji, they don't know what I am up to. All they know is that I am out to hunt for Itachi...the rest of it...All you," I smiled, "So are you going to arrest me?"

"You made a point," said Tsunade, "I can't arrest you but I can't allow someone to assassinate an elder."

"Oh no, not planning on assassinating him...promise," I said winking, "Danzo will set himself up for it. All I need you to do is to make sure he stays off my case while I am doing research. He had Sai give us something...a scroll. It is still at the house, didn't open it but I don't trust him. All I know is it is some mind control thing...anyway..the genjutsu is almost over..."

The genjustu faded and everyone began waking up. They were slightly confused that they were on the floor but I just looked at Tsunade. She narrowed her eyes at me.

"So Tsunade what is up?" I asked.

"We haven't found word on your sister, but we are still hoping," said Tsunade, "She may or may not be alive."

"..." I kept silent and looked shocked, like I was going to say something but kept my mouth shut, hopefully this would keep appearances, "Anything I can do?"

"No," she said sharply, "You are to stay in Konoha and get some rest. Tanzo will be out of commission for a couple weeks, but he will make a full recovery. Until farther notice, you are to continue teaching at the Academy."

I bowed my head and stomped off. I then went back home and took the scroll that was still on the kitchen floor. I then took it and put it in my room, hiding it, just in case I would need it. Well working at the Academy would allow me to look up records of former students. That would help. So I decided to take the rest of the day to look up the records. Unfortunately there were thousands of files to search through, and even then there may not be a chance that his records were here. He was an S-rank criminal and he graduated nearly ten years ago, and I had no idea how long they kept the records. Sighing, I began to work on finding Itachi's records.

**Kori's POV**

_Has he shut up yet?_

_No._

_Oh for fuck's sake! Kill him...I really don't care at this point...I just had my shirt removed..._

_I did not want to know that._

_You be stuck in a room, bored as hell with Doctor Creepy and see what happens...So yeah._

Yeah, sure enough Kabuto had to make sure my wounds weren't deep and cut up my tunic so he could examine me. I was sick and tired of this...So I began to close my eyes and concentrate.

'_Healing at an abnormal rate, or the cuts were made shallow on purpose. She would be a great addition to the Chakra Enhancement experiment.' _he thought.

Ew. I did not want to be addicted to drugs..I flexed my wrists and ankles to make sure no tendons were messed up that would prevent me from escaping. I didn't feel any pain but Kabuto may have pumped me full of drugs, so I had to be careful. I then began to check my chakra flow, which wasn't impeded in anyway...to my surprise. I reached out one final time.

_Ready when you are sir._

_Take out Kabuto. Make sure we are not followed._

_Understood._

"Kabuto," I said, "Er. Come here for a second, my nose itches."

"I am not your personal scratcher," he said.

"Dude if I could do it myself I would!" I said blowing on my nose, "You know every time your hands are preoccupied permanently your nose itches!"

"There hasn't been proof of that," he said, wheeling a chair he was sitting on over so he was closer to my face.

"Aren't I proving it?" I said.

He sighed, before leaning down and fiddling with some mechanisms above my head, "No, there. You can move your left hand enough to scratch your nose."

"Alright," I said, moving it, "Er...why is your hair white?"

"I lack the eumelanin and phaeomelanin pigments that blend together and gives the hair color," he said, "You have a combination giving you your hair color."

I was hoping my questions would keep him off guard, I tried to get him close. Though he was brushing my skin with his hand, there wasn't long enough contact. I slowly scratched my nosed and then stopped, looking up I furrowed my brow. Narrowing my eyes, I tilted my head.

"What is that?" I asked, looking at nothing.

"Hmm?" he asked pausing and looking up.

He had his hand on the table close to my hip, leaning over. I jerked up and dislocated my right arm so I could have enough room to grab his neck, "Made you look."

I pushed as much chakra as I had into my hand and broke through any barriers he might have had. Instead of going into his mind, I used the Mystical Palm Technique and overloaded his system. Aside from the whole embarrassing thing of him going limp and face planting my abdomen, it worked. He would be out of it and wouldn't follow us. Then taking my chakra, I pumped a little into two purple sparks, and had them crawl up onto the binds that were around my wrists, and using a variation of Water Style:Water Bomb, I exploded the goo and broke myself free of the chains. Though I had burns, I was happy. I then pushed the comatose Kabuto off my body and worked on getting the chains off my feet. After that was finished I pulled off Kabuto's shirt and grabbed the remnants of my own garment and headed out of the room.

_I am done Sasuke. Kabuto won't be bothering us._

Pulling his shirt over me, until I could sew my shirt back together, I scanned the area for Sasuke. I found him not too far away over the mangled corpse of Orochimaru. I covered my mouth and nose while I entered the room. Sasuke was standing there looking down at him.

"Let's go!" I called, "Stand there and you will be inhaling poison."

Sasuke calmly moved away from the corpse and walked beside me, stopping and looking down at my clothes. He rose an eyebrow.

"What you want me to run around topless? Sorry don't want the black eye..," I said snorting, "Sorry bad joke..Dont worry I got a bra on and you really didn't want to know that. Any who, since he is out of the way...we need a team. So got any ideas?"

"Why don't you tell me," he said glaring at me.

"No, your team is your choice," I said raising up my hands.

"Follow me then," he said closing his eyes and walking away.

After grabbing my missing gear, we then headed to where Suigetsu Hozuki was. Saske then proceeded to break him out of the tank. Suigetsu looked at me and then Sasuke.

"You are first," said Sasuke.

"What about her," asked Suigetsu.

"Ignore me, just a compass really," I said waving, "Ew...naked!"

"Like what you see?" smiled Suigetsu.

I covered my eyes, "Oh god, are all you men this perverted?"

"Anyway," interrupted Sasuke, "We are heading to the northern hideout."

"Jugo," I whispered.

"Say something?" asked Sasuke.

"Nothing!" I said smiling, "Anyone else?"

"No, you are an adept healer, and a sensory nin. Karin would have been my choice but with you here then I do not need her," he said flatly.

"Well yeah, that and I don't want your body in any way shape or form. Seriously, how do you attract creepers? I asked.

"Are you two going to ignore me?" asked Suigetsu.

"Pretty much until you are decent," I said turning around.

Suigetsu was instantly behind me, "Listen here you two. Good you freed me, but don't even think I am going to join in on this freak show. So what you beat Orochimaru, big deal. Don't think I am any less than you. Sasuke was his pet, what does that make you?"

"Prisoner of war," I said, "And an adept shinobi. Careful waterboy...I am not patient."

"Shut up both of you," said Sasuke, "We are leaving."

Ten minutes later we were outside heading towards where Jugo was.

"So what do you do?" asked Suigetsu.

"Healing, normal shinobi stuff, my base elemtent is Water, but I rarely use it by itself. The pack I carry has pigments and other stuff inside for use," I said walking, "I specalize in manipulating my chakra mixed with the pigments turning into ink. I also sense people's minds."

"Oh so you are a water user?" smirked Suigetsu.

"Before you try and drown me in your body because you can turn into water...I carry seven poisons within me at all times. I can also freeze your ass in place with little effort, and can dehydrate you with sulfuric acid...which I have in my pack. If you think I am bluffing, try it," I smiled, "Before you say anything. I know all there is about you. I was cursed with knowledge and have known you for six months or more. I know your tricks and your fascination with exotic swords."

He stopped in his tracks, "What experiment was she? I think she has been doped up beyond help."

"No, she does have a full extent of knowledge that other people do not have. Some of the things that she has shown me...It is hard to belive, but she is special," said Sasuke.

"Creepy," said Suigetsu.

**Kori's POV**

After hours of searching, I found what I was looking for. I took the file and copied all the important information that I needed to research. The second thing I needed to look up were his mission records, which were going to be harder to retrieve. This would give me a pattern, perhaps. Depending on how he did his missions, depended on how I was going to deal with him. Though Kori and I knew a lot about him, I needed everything. She even went so far as to prepare psudo-regeneration scrolls and a few potent curing salves sealed in scrolls to cover most bases of fatal illnesses. I needed things we weren't shown in our dreams right now.

I put everything back and then went back to Tsunade's offices, stopping by my house and getting the scroll. After returning I placed the scroll on her desk and asked her if I could go into the mission records room to look up Itachi. She didn't see how it would help but she gave me permission. Since I only had a day or so to do this, then I would have to work quickly...

After finding the records room, I began my work. It didn't take me long to find the records that I needed, there was one problem. Some of his records were missing, or blacked out. I couldn't take these home with me but I had to find out who tampered with them. Taking note of it, I gathered all I could find. When my work was complete I put everything back and went home to study the copies of things that I had.

After a few days I was teaching the children on some genjutsu techniques, and when I wasn't teaching I was brushing up on my knowledge. I knew Itachi joined the Akatsuki for protecting Konoha, he would personally do the missions if any inflitrating of Konoha was present. He did it before. Shikamaru helped me look over the files, seeing if there was anything I missed. When I thought I was prepared, I started to pack. I informed Tsunade of a lead about my 'sister' and she gave me the team I needed. Neji, Shikamaru, and I headed out to where I believed Itachi would be.

Following his patterns that we belived he took, when he wasn't out doing missions he was usually haunting traditional restraunts. Though we knew he was in the Akatsuki, we didn't know what sort of missions he would be doing. Though we managed to track him down to the border of Land of Hot Water, or at least that is where we hoped to find him. Since I was not known to the Akatsuki to be part of Konoha, it would be easy for me to get close to Itachi without sending of alarms. After we around, we found him in a small village. I told Neji and Shikamaru to stay out of the way but stay close enough to where if I needed help then they could come to my aid.

I changed into some civilian clothes in an in consisting of a knee length pink, orange, and gold kimono with black leggings underneath and pink sandals. I loosened my hair and put it into two long pony tails and tied a sash around my abdomen and hid a small blade in it, just in case. After changing, I also wore some make-up, though I had to get Shikamaru to do it, I wasn't really good at putting make-up on myself. After changing, I went into the restraunt that he was supposed to be. Stepping in, I quickly scanned the area and found them at the far end of the restraunt. I was seated close to them, and to keep up appearances I ordered some tea. After I got my tea, I began humming, focusing on Kisame. I knew his aggressive nature would cause trouble, so I began to try and keep him calm. After finishing my tea, I left, hoping they would follow.

Thankfully they did, so I had to keep walking. I wasn't sure if they noticed but we could follow them and keep a distance if need be. I found an alley that would limit movement and turned down it. I walked slowly to make sure that I was followed, and when they turned down the same place, Kisame first, I knew they took the bait. I focused on Itachi..I began to try and read him. It was difficult, he had various layers he kept in his heart, perhaps false images he used or lies he tried to tell himself. Either way, I found the heart string I was looking for...Sasuke.

"_Everything I am_

_And everything in me_

_Wants to be the one_

_You wanted me to be_

_I'll never let you down_

_Even if I could_

_I'd give up everything_

_If only for your good_

_So hold me when I'm here_

_Right me when I'm wrong_

_You can hold me when I'm scared_

_You won't always be there_

_So love me when I'm gone," _I sang.

I could hear the footsteps stop behind me. I turned around and saw that Itachi stopped before Kisame, who was now looking between me and Itachi. I stopped singing and closed my eyes.

"I am here to tell you that Sasuke is coming for you," I told him, "My sister is with him...if I know her, she has spilled the beans about everything. So I don't think his rampage is all on you sir."

"Who are you?" asked Itachi calmly.

"Yuki," I said, "No last name. I was found by Konoha, and I protect them, but above all else, my allegiance isn't to one person."

"So you are a missing-nin?" asked Kisame,

"No, I said it didn't belong to one person. It belongs to my friends back home. Only reason I am here is because you have to help me save her from her stupidity," I said.

"Why should I waste my time?" asked Itachi.

"She believes she can save him from all the hate he let himself be consumed by," I said, "I am also here to tell you, you failed. He knows who killed his clan...besides you. He knows who ordered it, and why. Another thing, he also knows about the desecration of your clan. Instead of letting the dead rest, Danzo of Konoha has stolen the clan's eyes and are planning to use them for his benefit. I am also here to tell you that if you don't help us, you will die alone a failure. I came to get you and take you to a location to be healed. I have some scrolls with me made by Kori, but I don't know if they will work. We don't know what you have."

"I told Danzo," he started to say.

"Well Danzo don't listen to anybody," I said, "Look I am going to open my eyes to show good faith. I warn you that I am a genjustu specialist, though your Sharringan and all versions of it will probably blow me out of the water. If you come with me, we can figure something out. Kisame is welcome too, as loyal as he is...and strong as hell...we could use him as an ally. Not that I wanna use him in any way, his choice of course. I only used genjutsu to keep him calm. I know how aggressive he is."

I opened my eyes and looked at him, hoping I could reason with him. Now it was a battle of wits and timing. One wrong move and I could be trapped in my mind for a long time. Though Itachi didn't know how I used my genjutsu, and that was the only trump card I had in my hand at the moment.

"Look Kori and I dream about you dying in vain, your little brother become a monster, and a lot of people like Kisame die in vain. Not that I am saying he is innocent, that is like calling an angry polar bear a cuddle buddy...anyways. We also know a lot about people, like yourself for instance. Our goal is to stop the needless deaths before they happen. It was painful to watch the first time, I don't want to experience that a second time. I am sure Kori would break and snap if she witnessed it. In a few months time, Naruto will come searching for you. Do what you have to, but after that...Kori will lead Sasuke to you and we hope that we can fix the future scars that were created," I continued, "I have the scolls nearby. After I heal you or at least try to help out, then you can leave. Anyway, I want you to come with me. There are two other Konoha nin with me but they won't hurt you I swear."

"Is all you want me to face my little brother?" he asked.

"No, we...I want to keep you alive. You are cool as hell! You to Kisame," I said calmly,"Look a war is coming and we need all the help we can get. If things go the way they are, then there is a lot of hurt that we can prevent."

"What if your meddling causes more hurt than good?" he asked.

"Right now we are playing it by ear, but Kori and I are not weak kittens," I said, "We can handle a lot of crap. So are you coming?"

"Before I go with you, tell me something," he said.

"What do you want to know?" I asked.

"If you know about me, how is my eye sight?" he asked.

"Terrible, in about four months, if it hasn't already died, you can barely see your hand in front of you. I am probably a blob of color. Only reason you know where I am is my voice and you are used to it. The Mangekyō Sharingan's drawbacks are the extreme amount of chakra used and the eye degradation. You will most likely need an eye transplant," I answered.

"You are lying!" snapped Kisame.

"No, she is correct. My eyesight has deteriorated," claimed Itachi, "The only ones who would know about the Mangekyō Sharingan's side effects should be the clan. How did you come by it?"

"I know things," I blushed, "Though I would much prefer you not pick my brain. I don't know what hell you would put me though."

"So where are these scrolls?" asked Kisame.

"Um, follow me," I said moving down the alley.

* * *

http:/www. tattoo-meanings .com/ -this is how I decided I would use the 'wolf'. There are lots of things and interesting facts about meanings behind tattoos here. Just if you want to look it up. And I will also go with, while it strikes me...Alpen, here is your appearance, you are going to be Kori's tattoo! Though I don't know when she is going to use him.

Sukaretto Miyuki, if you wish to be a part of this story...then all you have to do is PM me with everything, like being an OC or just a cameo...You will appear in the Omake episode (chapter) since you were gracious enough to give me the idea...though I haven't decided on how you are going to appear.

The bowls that I am using are called singing bowls or Tibetan Bowls, they are used to create certain sound vibrations to help reduce stress, alter consciousness and create a deep sense of peace. They are made out of various crystals or other metals, you can google what they are made out of if you wanna know. I am going to put more stress on the fact they alter consciousness, by using them as slight amplifiers for Yuki's Heartsong. Oh, if you ever get the chance look up how they sound, it is really amazing!

* I just realized something...That is Tsunade's grandfather, the First Hokage, he married Mito Uzumaki. She came from the clan which Naruto's mom is from...that makes him and Tsunade cousins right?

Song Quoted: When I'm Gone- Three Doors Down (yeah I see Itachi's relationship with his bro like this...)

* * *

**Alpenwolf: **Wow that is nice, though I can't pronounce it. Well right now we are officially delving into a Alternate Universe. So now uber Narutards are going to go crazy...lol. Plus with everything..these events now start the Shippuden-verse...sorta, out of order events are going to happen. So hopefully my mad writer skills can make sense of everything now.

**Sukaretto Miyuki: **oh, well sorry for misspelling Madara...I was doing a bit of mutli-tasking myself. Shame on me...I will fix it in future chapters...most the time Kori was saying his name anyway so I can get away with her purposely misspelling his name to make it sound like Mad-ra. Karin and Kori yes, they are similar, Karin was one of the characters I got inspiration from when making Kori, that is why she wears the knee high boots and short shorts. Yes while Kori can't sense Chakra like Karin, her ability is to sense minds, so they pretty much do the same thing but in different ways. Alright the kiss, er well, it is my fault for not fully explaining how they were bound. Thier arms were tied behind her back with her hands clasped to her elbow, to keep from hand seals being formed, my bad..that is why she had to kiss him, plus the kiss would be sufficient cover for her talking to him. Make others think she is crushin' when she is being devious. I have method to my madness. Yes, that is how I understood Itachi's will. I know it was so fluffy but I mean it works...if you think about it. Well when thinking about her inner world, I thought...well lets see, she is crazy, spontaneous, optimistic, and loud...she also has a darker side...so that is what came to mind. Though because of the 'infection of hate' we will possibly see the inner scenery change because she will be working with Sasuke to change him.. Yes the T.V., that was the look I was going for. Remember he is still evil and 'lost' atm...don't worry! Kori will pull through. Okay I understand your confusion and I tried to explain it a bit better in this chapter...did I do a good job? Okay, you don't watch Bleach, but you can easily look up Ichigo going into Bankai on youtube or may find pictures on google. As for Kabuto, I think I did a good job, I mean we really don't get to see a lot of him on a personal level until in the manga after Orochimaru dies...so yeah.

* * *

**River: **Here is another chapter, ladies and gents. I hope you like it. Now we have to ride out the rest of the months...so...Will Itachi agree to help Yuki? How will Kori work with Sasuke to change him? Plus a bunch of other things that my mind makes up. Loves!**  
**


	26. Omake: Possible Futures and Fun

**No POV**

_Of the many threads of fate that are weaved in life, some people believe they are destined for a single purpose. To save, to kill, to build, to destroy, all sides of a coin and all part of life. People if asked, could give you a million different stories of how things ended. For now...let us get a glimpse of how things could have been, good and bad. Our side story happens during the war that ravaged the world, and the war that never was. This story begins at the __War That Never Was__._

The sun shown brightly over the Village Hidden in the Leaves, Konoha. Just like any other day, the streets were bustling with people, all were happy. Ten years have passed for our two unlikely heroes. One still teaches at the Academy, being the best and worst teacher for her students, the other a personal guard for the Hyuga Clan. Now lets see what the duo are up to...

"Miss Yuki!" whinnied a student in her class, "How does a genjutsu help us? I mean it really seems sneaky and underhanded."

"Well Sora," said a certain pink haired kunochi, "Though it may be under handed, look at it this way. If you are greatly outnumbered a simple genjutsu like Magen: Narakumi no Jutsu* can distract your enemies while you prepare to fight, or flee. They come in handy, and just because you use the genjutsu doesn't mean you have to harm the enemy."

"But it is too complicated!" said Sora,

"Well that is because you are thinking with your head!" laughed Yuki, "A trick I learned from a very special person told me 'Imagination, while ridiculous, comes in handy.' Think with both your head and your heart. Don't let simple rules of life constrict you...if all you see is facts you will miss something."

"Alright," groaned Sora.

"Alright try it again," she said, "I don't care if it is bunnies or what. Just try and trap me into it."

"But you are a master!" said Sora.

"Alright. Take a master and a novice. Though the master has more knowledge, the novice may have more creativity. When one is a master they develop habits over the course of their training, those habits can be a hinderence. Like me, I hum a lot. Eventually my humming got me into trouble."

"Is that why you have the necklace you wear?" asked Sora.

"Yeah," she sighed, "But thankfully my friends helped."

"I will try again," said Sora hesitantly.

Now and the Hyuga Compound things were being very busy. It would seem like a party or festival was going on in its walls. A few days after we left Yuki off, there was much celebration to be had. Unfortunately for Kori, things were not going smoothly. She was chasing down Elder Akira for the seventh time today.

"Oh my god, Akira get down!" groaned a familiar voice of a purple haired kunochi.

"Not until you do the butterflies again," he said.

"I really don't know if you are senile or just being a pain," she muttered under her breath, "Fine...Here we go but only once! You are supposed to be at the wedding!"

Kori concentrated and butterflies began to peel themselves off her skin and flutter about her, before landing back on her shoulders. Sighing she looked back up at the Elder who was _still _on the roof, how he managed that she didn't know. After Akira was fully distracted, she climbed up and caught him. Jumping with him in hand, she landed swiftly on the ground.

"Now please for the love of Kami, we are late!" she sighed, "Miss Hinata is going to kill me."

"No she would never.." smiled Akira, "That and Master Nartuo wouldn't let her, then there is Master Neji."

"Oh god, do not bring him into this!" she sighed, "Look, it is freaking Hinata's big day. Lets go!"

Akira and Kori headed off to where Lady Hinata, now head of the Hyuga Clan, and Naruto Uzumaki were supposed to be wed. The guest list was all thier friends and a few family members. After making sure Akira wouldn't move from his spot anymore, Kori took her spot by the empty spot Lady Hinata would occupying. Years ago, it was she who was the subject for Hinata and Hanabi's dress up games, today, Kori smirked, today was her day for revenge. Only hours ago did Hinata ask her for her help to get ready, and Kori took full advantage of it.

Decking out the now head of the Clan in pinks and lavenders to compliment her eyes, she did wonderfully. Though not traditional, Hinata's eyes had a pink base going up to her lower eyebrow and extended just barely past the outer edge of her eyebrow, starting at the crease and spreading out along her upper lid, feathering out and ending about halfway on her lower eye lid was a lavender. Her lips were tinted with a light pink stain so that she wouldn't have to worry about leaving kiss marks on anyone. She was dressed in an off white, cream colored kimono that had pink petals dancing along the right shoulder, hip, and left leg, her obi was gold and purple with a golden cord trying around her waist to match the pale butterflies that decorated her sleeves. Her hair was pulled back in a loose half bun that would allow her hair to rest on the back of her neck as two small ringlets looped around her ears.

As Hinata began to walk out of the doorway, Kori watched the face of Naruto. Though unreadable at first, she could tell that it took every ounce of him to not dash and pick her up and carry her away. Letting a small chuckle fall from her lips she smiled and looked at Neji who was glaring at her for turning his cousin into the envy of every female at the wedding. Well underlying the 'if a fight breaks out I am going to murder you' was a 'she looks stunning, thank you.' As the celebration went on, she watched as time seemed to stop and everything was right. After the vows were said, and they were officially married, Kori began to get uneasy. Hinata then began to follow a tradition told to her by her best friend and toss a floral arrangement behind her back. Looking for exits, she started to try and escape the horror of being the 'next lucky one' but she was frozen in place. Looking down she saw she was under the effects of Shadow Manipulation.

"Oh damn you Shikamaru," she cursed, "When I am free, I will kill you."

Her body moved to the center of the now gathering unmarried women of Konoha who were invited. As the bouquet was tossed over the shoulder, Kori's body moved on its own and her hand reached up and plucked the thing out of the air. After landing it, she was congratulated for being the next lucky person to be wed, according to the tradition. In full fury Kori bee lined over to where her sister and Shikamaru now were, a small child still clinging to her mother's skirt. When she found her target she held up a finger and pointed it like it would cause the victim death instantly.

"Shikamaru...If this was not my best friend's happy day I would take you outside and beat you with these flowers," seethed Kori.

"Oh stop fighting it," chuckled Yuki,"Look Ichiki is almost ready to start the Academy, I do want her to have a playmate."

"Check with Naruto and Hinata on that one," I said pointing behind me at the lovely couple.

"You would make a great mommy Auntie Kori!" beamed Ichiki.

Ichiki had her father's jet black hair but it was soft like her mother, she had her fathers skin tone and constant bored look, though she resembled her mother more. She had large dark green eyes and a short round nose, with pouty lips..devilishly cute and she knew it. She had her parent's intellect making her very dangerous if she wanted something from you, if she couldn't charm you, she was evil. Well as evil as a three year old could be.

_A celebration indeed. Though we see this glimpse. The war that could have happened, never did. Naruto came back from Jairya's tutelage an with the help of past shadows, they killed the traitors of Konoha and destroyed the plans of the Akatsuki. WIth the help of everyone, many lives were saved. Itachi, Nagato, Sasuke, Jairya, Asuma, Kisame, and a few others. Naruto did become Hokage, eventually when Tsunade passed the torch...and peace was kept though many thought it was too fragile to hold. _

_Now to show you the __War That Ravged the Word.__ The hopes and dreams of the girls were ripped apart by many mistakes. Those they could not foresee. Instead of saving lives, the cost was great. Danzo got away with killing the last of the Uchiha clan and took thier power, but didn't have it long before Madara made his move. All were powerless..._

"It is your fault!" yelled an angry Naruto.

"Do you think we haven't suffered?" screamed Kori back, "Our friends...most of them are dead.."

"You were supposed to save them!" he screamed.

"I...I tried," she said softly, "He said he'd bring them back."

"And you trusted him," said Naruto, "He is gone and now you will be too."

Kneeling down she cried black tears, now trapped in a monstrous form. Her will broke long ago when she watched the closest ones to her be murdered. She knew that the choices she made were not the best ones, but she did it to survive. If they were alive now, they would surely be disappointed. She wondered what she did to cause all the sadness in the world. One by one she watched them all die, Jugo, Suigetsu, Yuki, Shikamaru, Hinata, Itachi, Sai, Neji...and the rest. The war had taken its toll, lasting five long years. She was now broken, and along with her a scar was now upon the world. Both her and Naruto lost control, battling one another and she lost. However, Madara had Naruto and through some miracle or curse she survived to see the very end. She watched in horror as he completed his plans. The light left her eyes as her spirit was crushed when she was forced to watched Naruto die. Seeing her in her state, Madara let her life to suffer though the rest of her life...

_A brief glimpse of what could happen. Though short, sad, and possible. There are many things that could happen. Now to ease your mind, we shall take a look at a Holiday Omake with the characters!_

**Kori: **Dude it is Halloween! Sweet!

**Yuki: **No scaring the neighbors. The Hokages have forbidden it.

**Kori:** Eh? Hokages? I only though there was one.

**First Hokage: **We have been temporarily resurrected by the author for comedy and support.

Kori is now foaming out the mouth twitching on the floor.

**Itachi:** Is she dead?

**Yuki: **I hope not, otherwise I will have to fill in her spot. I don't think I have enough meds or drugs for that.

**Neji: **I heard that. So what are you going to be?

**Yuki: **Duh a fairy.

Kori now comes back around.

**Kori: **I just had a nightmare that all the dead were alive and they wern't zombies.

**Tsunade: **Why am I here?

**Yuki: **It is a special...we were kidnapped...don't ask. So what are you going to be?

**Tsunade: **The terror of Konoha...Kori!

**Kori: **-raises up and bows- Thank you...thank you! Ooh! I am going to be a vampire...so Neji...

**Neji: **-covers neck- I am not going to be your donner.

**Minato: **I am going as the Kyuubi!

**Kushina: **And I am going as the chakra chains that bind Kyuubi.

**Naruto: **I am going as a teenager that now needs therapy for that mental image.

**Kiba: **Going as a werewolf, with Akimaru.

**Third, Second, and First Hokage: **We are going as zombies!

**Kori: **Cool! Go eat brains...

**Suigetsu: **I am going as the Loch Ness Monster...by the way what does it look like? I have never heard of a Loch.

**Kori: **It is Gaelic for lake...Gaelic is what the Scottish and Irish used to speak a long time ago, some still do but it is uncommon for you to hear it outside of the contry. So go as the friggin' Three Tails, wasn't it a lake monster?

**Suigetsu: **...okay...

**Shino: **I will be a mummy along with my family.

**Kori: **-shudders- My memories of movies from where I came from called The Mummy, the Ninteen Ninty-Nine version...Scarabs...

**Itachi: **I am going as this , fellow.

**Yuki: **Ha ha, Sasuke would be a better fit.

**Orochimaru: **I am going asss.

**Everyone: **HOLY ! -They all back away-

**Orochimaru: **I got resurrected to...I get to have fun. Enjoying the fact that villains are able to be revived for now and get to dress up...

**Kori: **Not Willy Wonka...that joke is just plain old...and neither freaking Voldemort...that one is old too.

**Karin: **I am going as a Bunny!

**Kori: **Do the words play or boy come before that?

**Karin: **How did you know?

**Kori: **Because two evil aura kunochi are behind you...and they look upset.

**Jugo: **I am going as a monk.

**Pein: **Can I be the grim reaper?

**Konan: **Can I be an angel?

**Yuki: **Guys it is Halloween! Be what you want!

**New Person: **Er, I am Miyuki...Hello.

**Kori: **So another snow angel? Or snow bunny? Er...or snow..

Yuki jumps on Kori and covers her mouth.

**Yuki: **Do not finish that line...there are kids present.

**Miyuki: **I am going as a Raver Girl.

**Kori: **Hmm...I should have though of that one...ahh...can I do your hair?

**Miyuki: **Sure? You aren't going to put anything weird in it...

**Kori:** No, I have this wig with glow sticks in it...and I am not wearing it...

**Miyuki: **Cool!

Kori and Miyuki walk off.

**Yuki: **Kori! How the hell am I supposed to deal with all these people! The Aktasuki are here! Kori!

_Humor for the good of it all..._

* * *

**Narakumi no Jutsu: **Demonic Illusion: Hell Viewing Technique: This is a genjutsu that reveals the fears that dwell inside people's hearts. Everyone has an image of the one thing they wouldn't want to ever see. This genjutsu is a technique that draws forth such an image from within the heart and has one mistake it for reality. First, an imaginary circle of leaves will spin around and envelop the target, falling away shortly after. After a short period, the illusion will begin. This is to make the illusion more convincing, since the user will likely have moved before the illusion sets in. If the mental image is a gruesome one, the shock will be accordingly great.

市来- means Ichiki, using the traditional way of making names for children taking the father's first Kanji in his name and the mother's last kanji in her name..I couldn't find what it means, since apparently it is a surname...but it is cute. This is how I got the kids name that is supposed to be Shikamaru and Yuki's kid...Which if you read comic books a famous Marvel X-men has the surname Ichiki..Armor.

* * *

**River: **Alright here is my first Omake Episode. I know scattered about but I wanted to give readers a preview of what may go down before the zanny stuff that my mind came up with.


	27. Chapter 27:Healing Process

**Yuki's POV**

The next morning came swiftly. As we finished packing, Itachi and Kisame showed up. The liquid concoction that Kori had developed seemed to be helping. He had a better look but he was still really pale. I let him into the room and sat down to breakfast.

"How are you feeling?" I asked.

"I don't have as terrible headache and I didn't have trouble getting up," he calmly said.

"That is good," I told him, "So after knowing that Kori told Sasuke what really happened..Do you still want to die?"

Before Itachi could say anything, Shikamaru cut him off, "Just shake your head. I do not want my eardrums busted this early in the morning."

"Why would she do that?" asked Kisame.

"Well if I have an emotional outburst, my voice...it carries the emotion on it. I can't help it. Like Kori, unless I keep concentrating we our abilities get out of control," I sighed, finding the bottles Kori instructed me to take with me, "Alright I am going to give you this...it looks as though it congealed into a syrup...sorry."

Itachi shuddered and I could feel the depressive aura around him, "Really..."

"So right now...I am at a loss. I don't know weather to stick with you or not. Kori and I didn't really plan on finding you so early, but I don't think travling with you would be a good idea. People may get the wrong idea," I said finishing my plate.

"Do you honestly care what others think?" asked Kisame.

"There are only two people in my life who I give a damn about what they think. One is a terror if left by herself, and the other one is in this room," I said smiling.

"I am wondering your intentions," asked Itachi "You haven't shown us an ounce of hatred or distrust, yet you haven't asked us for information or tried to be very friendly."

"I just know that there are somethings in life that can't be helped," I said looking at him, "As for your Akatsuki plans...I know what they do, but I can't remember why or what they are doing. There is a huge chunk missing in that department. I mean it would be unfair for me to ask you to tell us since I haven't saved your life. For all we know this syrup stuff will only slow it down. We won't know unless we see a med-nin."

"There is someone who can tell us that," said Itachi, "Her name is Miyuki Sukaretto. She works for Pein and resides in Amegakure and treats anyone with serious injuries. She gave me this medicine, but she didn't know as much as you did about what was wrong with me."

"Alright," I said now pouring the last of the syrup into a bottle and corking it, "We travel there. Hopefully Kori will give us some intel on what is going on on her end."

"Aren't you worried that you may be captured?" asked Kisame, "That is Pein's village."

"Well as long as Zetsu isn't creeping," I told them, "We should be fine. I can cast a vocal based genjutsu as far as my voice can carry. I can amplify it with items that carry sound but they have to be charged with my chakra before hand...if I remember Ame correctly, then it should have good acoustics."

"How much do you know about us?" asked Itachi.

"I will fill you in on basic info while we walk," I said.

"Attempt to do anything funny," warned Kisame.

"I know it looks bad that I helped Itachi with no payment, but the best thing he can give..he has already given. Look let's go. I have a feeling we are on a tight schedule," I said.

We then began to make our way towards Ame. Though we were arguing on how we should get there. The quickest way would be to speed through the north western part of the Land of Fire but the easiest would take us around the border and it would take us longer. Plus we would go through the Land of Sound and I wasn't sure Kori had Sasuke a bit less crazy. I knew one way of getting a hold of her, but it would be a long shot...She did have a long range skill but the farther the distance, the fuzzier the reception. That and if we kept it up too long she would pass out due to exhaustion.

**Kori's POV**

We had been traveling for about a while. Thankfully excuses of him not being ready and he had yet to unlock the Mangekyō Sharingan helped me keep him far away from Konoha. I had worried he would try and do a full scale assault on Konoha, but thankfully he didn't. It did make me wonder if he was genuinly curious about his brother or just grabbing power through me. I wasn't even sure it was possible to give him the Mangekyō Sharingan through the memories. Damn my over confidence and half baked plans. I decided it was time to talk to Yuki. I opened my senses.

_Yuki! How are your doing?_

_...Ko...is...uki! Need...to...you...Have...older...Itachi._

I was knocked down to my knees with that one. The long range communication jutsu me and Yuki developed worked both ways but it took more strain on me...considering it was like picking out one person among thousands, I think I did well. Suigetsu walked up to me.

"Are you alright?" he asked helping me up.

"Dizzy spell," I said, "I tried to focus on something too far away. The message was choppy at best, so I need to bring out my wolf."

"Your summons are wolves?" asked Sasuke.

"No, my tattoo. I can hold them much longer and they can travel much farther than shadow clones and copies of myself. It still has a shelf life though...The longest I can hold it is three days. Thankfully it is wicked fast. Think of him as a line between me and my sis. It helps me get better reception when conversing a long way away from someone, but I will out cold at least on this end. My consciousness needs to travel with him if I am to communicate, otherwise I can give simple commands like attack, fetch, retrieve, and ambush," I said lowering my tunic, which was now repaired, to reveal the full tattoo.

"That looks so real," said Jugo before he watched me release the wolf from my skin, "How is that possible?"

"Living Ink, it is only temporary. It takes days to accomplish. I have to constantly set aside chakra to 'feed' it, after that I can release it for a set amount of time depending on how long it has been fed. The wolf here, I have had for a few weeks, so I can have him active for about three days time. Unlike true living creatures, he isn't bound by foot travel," I said turning to the wolf as he laded on all fours on the ground.

The wolf itself had a wispy look to him but still remained solid. The purples and grays melted into one another and I blended to make a white base on his fur with a only the outline of him still containing the usual purple hue. He had dual colored eyes, one sky blue, the other a deep gold, and when he moved, he seemed to have a smoke trail following him. Sitting down on his haunches, he still stood up to hip and he looked strong yet sleek. His smooth fur hid his muscles very well but the look he gave everyone told them he had strength and intelligence.

"That tattoo only covered your shoulder, how can he get so big?" asked Suigetsu.

"Resizing..It hurts to condense them into my skin but It allows me to hide full scale models of things on my body...what better place to hide weapons than in plain sight?" I smiled, "This is Stärke. Normally I wouldn't name them but, I have become quite attached to him." I then bent down and Stärke, padded over, "Find Yuki." I looked up at Jugo, "Care to carry me? I won't break. Promise." I looked at the wolf one final time, "Be swift."

I then transferred my consciousness to it and watched as he sped away through the land.

**Yuki's POV**

We stopped near the Valley Of the End for now. Itachi was still sick and I didn't want him to overexert himself. It was around lunch when we stopped but I didn't want any patrols seeing us, so we skipped out on the campfire. I could hear a distant howl. Shikamaru and the other jumped up and were on high alert. I listened again, if it was one of Kori's creations it wouldn't howl again if it picked up our scent. I held up my hand.

"I think it is Kori," I said.

Neji's face lit up a little. However when her wolf landed he frowned, "That isn't Kori."

The wolf saw him and jumped on him looking very happy. After pouncing him, the wolf stole his headband and ran behind me snickering. It then sat down and began chewing on it.

"Give that back!" said Neji getting up.

"Anyway," I said rolling my eyes, "So what is up?"

The wolf stopped chewing the headband and looked up at me. Then he stood up on his hind legs and placed his forepaws on my shoulders. He then touched my face with his nose.

_Sorry, couldn't help myself...Neji deserves slobber after that comment. Er, we are still in the Land of Sound. Sasuke is doing well...though I don't know if I am doing any good. How is Itachi?_

"Itachi is fine, I need to give this scroll to you. Right now we are heading to a med-nin up in Ame," I said, "That funky stuff you had me make...is it dangerous?"

_As long as he doesn't drink it like tea, no. I doubt asparagus, lemons, vanilla and some gelatin would kill him. The flavor might though..._

"How long before we can see one another?" I asked.

_Well...Sasuke is coming to grips he has been lied to...as much as it is helping, it is also adding fuel to the fire. My mind is suffering along with him. Give me a week, if things go well they should be able to see one another and not kill one another._

"Oh Itachi wants to speak with you," I said pointed behind me.

The wolf removed himself off my shoulders and padded over to Itachi. Lowering itself, to show it wasn't threatening, it approached him. Itachi looked questioningly at the wolf.

"Just touch the top of his head, Kori is in there," I said smiling.

He placed his hand slowly on the wolf's head.

**Kori's POV**

_Sup bro! Well that would be if you were my bro._

"You are a boy," said Itachi.

_No, the wolf is a boy. I am very much a girl. I sent to wolf because I can carry my consciousness with it...since it is a part of me. It won't last long though. I need a favor of you. Two actually._

"So there is a price," Itach said narrowing his eyes.

_Only a thought...or a set of. I need you to remember your bother, how you saw him. I need that. Second, I need you to seal away Orochimaru forever. I can still feel his presence in Sasuke's mind. For these favors, I promise to fix your eyes._

"Empty words," said Itachi.

_Are all Uchiha thick! God...I am doing this for you and your bro, man. You two were taken away from one another because of douche bags. I want you two to be happy. Is that too much? I think not. Now get it through your skull. If I have to have Yuki put you in a coma and hand deliver you to me so I can fix you, I will. Your life has been a...trial. I know you hate war, and dude I am WORKING on it. If I can save you, you and your bro can kill Madara. He can't do it alone. Here let me show you something...it is what will happen after you die by his hand...seriously...I am working my ass off to change this fate!_

I showed him a now possibility of the future of Sasuke joining the Akatsuki and going on the war path of avenging his clan. Everything that I could remember, I showed him. After the set memories were played, he looked shocked and disappointed.

"So I failed," he said sadly.

_You think! Jesus! I ought to lock you up for being selfish. Things don't work out how you plan. When you left your little bro, you put a void that would never be filled. It bred hatred, and he...he throws his life away for something so STUPID! I hate war, I hate ass holes, I...am having a difficult time. When I first entered your brother's mind...the hate, it is like a plague. I wouldn't recommend going in there...Oh shit...my time is almost up. So can I please, please, please, have one memory...the best thing about your bro you love. PLEASE!_

"If you can succeed where I failed," he said, "Alright. Only because you are trying to help him."

_Thank you! You are the best. I promise to do whatever you ask when we meet in person...Thank you!_

Before my time was up I asked Stärke to brush up against Neji. He did as I asked though he rolled his eyes. When Neji pet him on the top of his head I burst out in joy.

_NEJI! LOVE YOU! Omigah I am so sorry for ditching! I promise to make it up to you! So what are you gonna do when we see one another? Oh are you going to go with Yuki? If so we can see one another sooner! _

"Calm down," said Neji, "You are thinking a mile a minute."

_Sorry..miss you._

"I miss you too," he said, "Why couldn't you come here personally?"

_Oh don't get down. I am babysitting the freak tent...-snicker- Look I don't have much time left..Behave, don't fight with Itachi or Kisame, and I will see you soon._

"Don't die," he said.

_Don't kiss the wolf either..it is a boy after all and I don't think he'd appreciate being kissed by you._

"Why would I kiss a wolf?" asked Neji.

_Because you love me._

"Fine," he said scowling, and blushing, "I do love you but I still would not kiss a wolf."

_If it was the only way to save my life?_

"I would have to think about it," he teased.

_I will take that as 'I would totally make-out with it'. Bye! I will see you on the border of Ame in a week or so. Maybe somewhere else if it is decided. _

_Never make me play delivery boy for your love fest._

_Sorry Stärke. Hey why are you giving me lip! I made your ass!_

_You were silly enough to give me advanced intelligence. You wanted me to be as life-like as possible. Though I swear you say sit, fetch, or beg I will hurt you._

_Moody...it must be that time...Seriously letting you out for one day and you are already too big for your inky fur! Tsk. So will you be renting my mind while you sleep?_

_Yes._

_Good, Free range on when you come out but you have to protect me. Stay with Yuki for now. Come back when they have finished talking with the doctor._

I then made my way back to by body, crash course style. The rush of the air was interesting, considering I couldn't feel it, but when I jerked awake and fell out of Jugo's grip, I felt the landing.

"Ow," I said rubbing my head, "You can let go of my legs now."

"Oh, I am sorry," said Jugo dropping my feet.

"What is going on?" asked Sasuke.

"They are off to see a doctor to see if my cure is working, after that we will meet up," I said picking my butt of the ground, "So about a week is my time frame..Boy am I tired."

"You were passed out for fifteen minutes," said Suigetsu.

"You have your mind separate from your body and travel far away and speak to someone, without losing yourself. Then rush back to your body before your mind becomes jelly. I mean I don't know if I stop breathing or anything," I said rubbing the newly acquired lump on the back of my head, "I will be happy when they make cell phones. Don't ask."

We then headed off in a random direction and continued walking. We then found a village to rest in for a while, while I waited for the call back from Yuki.

**Yuki's POV**

It took us a while to get to the doctor that we were supposed to meet. She was considerate and actually met us outside Ame, a few hours from where we were. I was surprised when she entered the room. She was just barely taller than me, standing at five foot five, and had golden like eyes, though I was sure they could be hazel. Her pale blue-silver hair was tied up in cat ears that had braids wrapping around them and falling behind her shoulders, while her bangs framed her face, she also had a slight tan to her. Her outfit consisted of a white low cut v-neck tunic that may have been a dress once, but was slit up to her black obi that was wrapped around her waist, over her dress thing was a dark navy blue cropped jacket that belled around her hands. She then had a dark red body suit under her dress thing that even fitted around her feet, and gave her shoe like footies. She also had two earrings that dangled from her ears, a small chain connecting the red orb to the hook like end of it.

When she entered the room, it seemed to light up from her personality alone. She always had a smile on her face, and seemed really sweet. As she walked, it almost looked like she literally had a bounce in her step, as she made her way over to the two who were familiar to her. As she saw Itachi and Kisame she greeted them like old friends and even got to hug Kisame. When she turned to hug Itachi her grin got wider.

"Itachi-sama!" she said happily, "Good to see you looking better!"

"I am here to get a second opinion really," he said while showing himself to a bed.

"Um, I must ask that everyone else leave," she smiled.

"Alright," I said walking out.

Half an hour later she appeared outside the room she was using, "Itachi-sama will see you now."

I walked in with the others, there was one question on everyone's mind. We just didn't know who would voice it first.

"So what did she say?" asked Kisame.

"I said that there was a slight improvement in his color, and he seems to be having less pain," said Miyuki, "Now if you are going to sit here and talk behind my back, I think a lesson in manners is in order."

"We apologize," said Neji, "It is just that there is a hope that a medicine a friend created is helping him. It may even be a possible cure. Someone just got ahead of themselves."

"Oh," blushed Miyuki, "Well, I can't say that he is getting better without some tests. When I scanned him, there was a slight increase in his chakra flow. It may be nothing, but I can't dismiss the fact that it seems to be stabilizing a little. Who is your friend?"

"My sister," I told her, "She knew Itachi was sick and she researched fatal illnesses from curable to incurable. Fortunately for us he contracted Malaria, according to the notes she has in this book. Well they aren't notes just a disease reference guide. She also tried researching cures for him, how I don't know, but apparently she found a mixture of plants that could help."

"I would like to take a look at these notes," she said narrowing her eyes, "Since Itachi has been my patient, I am not about to let some wanna be doctor kill him. It has been a miracle he has survived this long."

"I understand," I said taking out the book and showing it to her, "Page twenty-three is where it begins."

Miyuki read through the pages quickly but apparently accurately, because her face began to try and conceal her emotions. After checking it over she held out her hand.

"I need the scroll," she asked, "The way your sister puts her notes, while they are disorganized they appear accurate. This book is supposed to compliment that scroll she made, is it around?"

"Yep, the neck of a wolf," I said as Stärke padded in.

"I can't say that I can agree to work with you, Konoha nin," she said, "but with what I have seen you, well half of you _are _concerned about his well being. As a servant of Pein, I should alert your presence, but as a medical professional, I can only see a sick patient with good friends. Who ever your sister is, she has very detailed information. I know that Tsunade is Hokage of Konoha now, and I must respect her as a superior healer, would your sister by chance have been instructed by her?"

"Yes and no, Tsunade beat chakra control into us. Kori was never taken as an apprentice as far as I know. Where we are from there is a cure for it, and it is easily obtained for most people," I said, "I think Kori may have read too much when she was young. That and Konoha has a good medical team of people to treat its villagers. They treated us more than once, but not for Malaria...just us being accident prone."

"Why did you not seek the cure?" asked Miyuki.

"Well if we knew where we came from, we would have," I said leaning against the wall, "When we woke up...we knew everyone and everything about them but nothing about ourselves. Over time stuff filled in but we still haven't figured out everything." I took the scroll off of Stärke and looked at Itachi, "So.."

"She can be trusted," said Itachi, "She has kept my illness a secret so far." Itachi then pulled a container out of his robes, "You will need this as well Miyuki."

Miyuki grabbed the items and went to the corner of the room to read. When she finished she held up the bottle, "As much as I would like to keep this and make more...I can't. This will work but you have to be careful or his sight may worsen. He should take a small spoonful of it at his meals, it has a more potent efect in its congealed form. Give my gratitude to your sister for helping to save someone. Maybe one day when we are not considered enemies, I could meet her."

"Enemies and Kori...there really isn't a line for her when it comes to villages or what not. She only dislikes specific people," I told her, "After I tell her about you, she will so try and see you. She has a bad habit of wanting to be friends with everyone."

"Well perhaps that is a good thing," she smiled, handing me back the scroll and medicine, "Now you be off. I must return to my post. Itachi-sama, Kisame-sama, stay safe. If you ever need anything don't hesitate to ask."

We left the small inn, I looked down at Stärke and he seemed to understand. I attached the scroll and a few notes on him again and watched him leave. I hoped he would make it back before the chakra keeping him around would deplete.

**Kori's POV**

We were still at the inn, I had been working with Sasuke while we waited. I had already showed him the memories of Itachi. It was unusual to see him cry, but since we were in our minds, I doubted he cared anymore. My scenery changed a bit but so did his. Mine took on a more neo-goth look but still retained the bright colors of the field, his had more color added. His mind was not just four simple walls anymore, now there was more depth. Itachi's image had changed, from being in fire to reaching out to him but being pulled away by the shadows of Danzo and Madara. The image of his family and clan being slaughtered was now distant, placed in a corner of a now remodeled area, looking like his old home. Feint images of his friends long ago, now seemed to flicker in and out of appearance sometimes. Orochimaru was still lurking about but eventually I knew that snake would get what is coming to him. It was still dark but there was a bit of hope.

As for his inner self, he had more color to his body and the black veins were not as apparent and he no longer was crying that black stuff, the hole in his chest was now trying to slowly stitch over. His hands now had a form and didn't look like they were withered or diseased. There was still more work to be done, but in all honesty I was amazed at what I accomplished, though I didn't do it alone. Itachi, various memories, and lots of luck helped me.

Thinking to myself I didn't hear the howl of Stärke, and was scared out of my wits when the wolf landed in front of me. Picking myself off the ground, the Living Ink smiled. He showed me the items he carried, and yawned as I took them off. After that, I went through the slow, painful process of him returning to my skin. I tried to take my mind off it by reading the scrolls. When he finished fusing back I told him to sleep well as I delivered the news to the others.

"Itachi looks like he will be recovering. There is actually a letter for you Sasuke from him," I said handing him the unopened letter, "So what does it say?"

"Itachi wants to see me," said Sasuke, "We are leaving."

I didn't know if this was a good thing. I mean I had made progress but it would take a fucking miracle for Sasuke to not want to beat Itachi. We gathered and made out way to where we were supposed to meet Itachi. When we arrived, I was beginning to get worried about what would happen. I knew this was the Uchiha Hideout, this was supposed to be where Sasuke 'killed' Itachi. Fear began to creep up on me as we arrived. We made our way to the throne room where Yuki, Kisame, Shikamaru, Neji, and Itachi were. When I saw Neji, I ran full force into him, forgetting how to stop. After we untangled ourselves from the crash, I apologized.

"Sorry!" I said blushing, "I um..hi."

Neji hugged me, more like glomped me, "I missed you, but if you go on another crazy adventure with crazy people...without me...I will have to refuse cuddles."

"Low blow," I said smiling, "Alright I will take you next time..if there is a next time. Oh Itachi in sight..pounce commencing in three...two..."

When I said one, I was already in the air, arms stretched out, and smile cutting into my face it was so wide. I landed on him and began talking rapidly again.

"Ohmigahd how are you Itachi? Did my medicine work? Are you feeling okay? Are you mad at me for telling Sasuke about things? How is your eyesight? Thank you again. Oh it is wonderful to see you alive," I said practically in one breath.

Yuki pulled me off him and apologized, "Sorry you are like her hero or something. She is excitable...and this is Kori."

"She is unusual," said Itachi after getting over the inital shock of almost being tackled.

"Thank you!" I said now in full hyper mode.

"Aren't you forgetting to be ref for the...er..." said Yuki before whispering, "You know the..thing."

That is when all hell broke loose. Sasuke flipped his lid and we had to hightail it out of the room before we were stabbed or roasted. I was ticked off because I just thought Sasuke was wasting my time. After all that work...and he still went ballistic. I broke loose of the vice grip Yuki and Neji had me in and went into the field. It wasn't the best idea I had because I just so happened to land between them as a throwing stars were sent flying. The fight seemed to stop as I felt weird for a second..

"I look bad don't I?" I asked.

"KORI!" screamed Yuki.

My eyesight began to fade as I felt the rush of pain hit before my legs gave out from under me. The whole world began to spin and play in slow motion.

"Shit," I said hitting the ground.

**Yuki's POV**

Kori had placed herself in the cross fire of Itachi and Sasuke and she didn't even bother to try and defend herself. The two brothers stopped as they realized their attacks struck her in various parts of her body. I couldn't tell if they hit vitals or not, all I saw was her collapse to the floor. I heard myself scream as she hit the ground, I knew she was dead. Though I wanted to rush to her side I was frozen. Neji rushed in my stead and began to run toward her.

Before he could make it, she began to move. Holding up her hand she rose up through sheer will and began to take out the throwing stars that littered her body. I rush of air exploded from where she stood, probably her chakra releasing the seals to heal herself...but something was wrong. Very wrong. She moved as though she was in extreme pain or tired. Her head slowly rose and reveled that her face was contorted as tears streamed down her face.

"You are brothers," she whispered, "Family!"

Wounds that had not healed, began to secrete this black substance from them that began to spread on her skin. Moving, it began covering her quickly before ebbing away, revealing a physical change in her appearance. Her hair was now jet black and she had two black lines running from her hairline, down to her jaw, and running over her eyes, which now lost all color to them. Her lips were stained black with one line running from her lower lip to her chin. Her hands began to look withered as she held them out pointing at both Itachi and Sasuke. Now on her wrists were two thick black manacles with chains hanging down to her knee as she held up her arms. When she opened her mouth her teeth had now become sharp and she now beared fangs. She began to speak, but as she did so it seemed like razors were cutting across my skin.

"I am so fucking SICK of your shit!" she said, voice deepening, snapping her head at Sasuke, " Fucking grow up before I break you into submission. Yes he left, and you just can't get over the fact he didn't take you. Oh go cry in a fucking corner before you begin cutting yourself because your emotional depth now is reduced to a thimble."

Sasuke and Itachi looked shocked. Hell even I was, I had seen her upset, but this was beyond pissed!

"You," she said now facing Itachi, "Oh my god my life sucks...oh look I am sick so I am only going to exist while I torment my brother like a kitten to make him hate me so he won't know why I left. Oh he must believe that I am the bad guy while our psychotic ancestor runs around killing people with joy and I will entrust his obsessive best friend to 'save him'. Oh god, coward...You could have at least be enough of a man to fucking be responsible for your mistakes. Yeah so what you butchered your family, your clan for peace..at least you had one! Now choke on your own pathetic, meaningless existence because you went out of your way to die and caused your little brother to be the poster boy for an unstable emo kid with so many issues his therapist will have to prescribe medication to himself to deal with that shit!"

"Kori?" I asked out loud.

She spun around, "WHAT?"

"I think you need to calm down," I told her, "You look like something out of a horror movie."

"Oh, shut up. Stay out of this or I will break you as well. If they are not going to be mature adults like their _age_ says, then I will beat the living hell out of them until they are unconscious and wipe their memories," she turned to look at Suigetsu who now drew his blade, "Don't even think about it Water Boy, not unless you think living in many small vials scattered across the world is your next big move. I am now your hate...everyone that I have touched...did this...so now is a little payback...starting with you."

I blinked an eye and she was using her chains to ensnare Sasuke. When Itachi moved to save his brother. It now seemed as though it was us against her.

* * *

I know Pein's name can also be spelled Pain...but I think the former spelling works better to prevent confusion because his broken record of pain speeches.

**Stärke-** German for Strength, I thought it was appropriate with the meaning behind the wolf tattoo. It was also one of the words that popped up that I could see being a name.

**Music Inspiration:** Muse -Uprising...good song and fitting if I might add. This is a good song seeing the point of view of Kori trying to save all she can.

**Justus:** Okay it has been a while since I have explained Kori's new Jutsu. Now to cover them before I forget.

**Art Fusion**: Kori combines two or more colors for various effects, depending on what type of ink used, colors, and pigments she has.

**Living Ink: **Kori has the ability to make her art come 'alive' for periods of time. Unlike Sai's ink, these creations take days to complete and have to store chakra from Kori over the course of the days to animate. They also seem to have an intelligence of their own. If they were to get damaged, they would bleed a mixture of chakra and ink until they 'died' because the chakra holding them together bled out. They are able to carry out simple missions if Kori is unavailable at the time, and unlike shadow clones or other copies of herself, she doesn't need to constantly waste chakra keeping them around. The longest Kori has ever animated one was for three days.

**Long Range Telepathy: **Kori has to focus on her target and concentrate. Then she is able to communicate with people over miles of distance, however it takes a great deal of chakra and focus to use. Another weakness is the farther the distance, the more 'static' is present.

* * *

**Aplenwolf: **Oh no, his eyesight isn't going to be fixed by Yuki. It is most likely that he will need an eye transplant. Lol, yes Fable was awesome...Er...now lets see..The eye transplant would need to be someone close to Itachi, if possible of pulling it out of my head and working I am thinking of something. *giggles* I hope you like your name.

**gunitatsuhiko: **Welcome new reader. Thank you, I try to be as awesome as I can be. I am glad you like it.

**Sukaretto Miyuki: **Here is your cameo...did you like it? Well I loved Suigetsu and I would totally see him as a brother from another mother if I could ever get the chance of meeting him! So I incorporated that in how they react. Watch...read...words just help you imagine something. Seriously I totally pretend to watch the stories I read...so it is okay. Oh god, yeah the research was a necessary evil...I don't want to write something that I have no idea about or in this case didn't have all the facts. What if I did something wrong? That would be bad. As for your character...I just have personality and looks...so far. Idk if I will bring you back...there is a high chance though. As for the look I blended Rin Mao and Ryoko's looks and gave you Moca's personality, but we didn't get a chance to see her snap...lol.

**ThorLuvR: **Well as for the Sakura thing...I blame her anger on her teacher and the whole 'I was useless so now that I have power I am going to abuse it.' That and the whole angsty 'the love of my life left me, I am angry...' yeah I am going with that. As for her relationship with Naruto. In this story we are going to see a different side of the realtionship, not so violent since A. I am bringing Sasuke back and B. creative license says I can tweak it and get away with it...lol. As for the Neji thing...I am working on it. The next chapter will be bloody mush, seeing as how I have to finish the fight and brink Kori back...using the power of love! -snorts- cheesy as hell I know. Right now...she reminds me of Willow from Buffy: the vampire slayer series where Willow tries to destroy the world..well Kori isn't trying to destroy the world...itself...just maybe a few personal worlds. That saying goes 'to the world you may be one person, to one person you may be the world.' Yes, the most covered anime guy that I have seen so far...is sexy..I think it is the fact we don't know what he looks like so everyone can imagine what they want and they are neither right or wrong. Oh in this story Madara is going to die...slowly...*evil laugh*.

* * *

**River: **So here we see the cameos that I promised, and Kori's Black Art. Sorry for the cliffie but if I kept writing I feel like the chapter was too long. So yeah, Kori is beserk...so how are they going to fix it? Will we see the brothers make up? After the showdown what is going to happen? So next chapter we will see it all come together and if I can fit it in and it seem to flow...Naruto comes back!

I thank all my loyal readers who have been with me since the get go. I have some good news/bad news. I am starting school Aug 29th and will be in class from 7am to 3pm (-5:00 GMT/ Eastern Time Zone) and studies will eat up my time. HOWEVER I will NOT put this on hiatus. I am just warning you guys that the chappies won't pop out like baby bunnies during the Spring. Bear with me...I apologize and grovel at your review mercy right now. **  
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	28. Chapter 28:Coming Together

**Yuki's POV**

The next morning came swiftly. As we finished packing, Itachi and Kisame showed up. The liquid concoction that Kori had developed seemed to be helping. He had a better look but he was still really pale. I let him into the room and sat down to breakfast.

"How are you feeling?" I asked.

"I don't have as terrible headache and I didn't have trouble getting up," he calmly said.

"That is good," I told him, "So after knowing that Kori told Sasuke what really happened..Do you still want to die?"

Before Itachi could say anything, Shikamaru cut him off, "Just shake your head. I do not want my eardrums busted this early in the morning."

"Why would she do that?" asked Kisame.

"Well if I have an emotional outburst, my voice...it carries the emotion on it. I can't help it. Like Kori, unless I keep concentrating we our abilities get out of control," I sighed, finding the bottles Kori instructed me to take with me, "Alright I am going to give you this...it looks as though it congealed into a syrup...sorry."

Itachi shuddered and I could feel the depressive aura around him, "Really..."

"So right now...I am at a loss. I don't know weather to stick with you or not. Kori and I didn't really plan on finding you so early, but I don't think travling with you would be a good idea. People may get the wrong idea," I said finishing my plate.

"Do you honestly care what others think?" asked Kisame.

"There are only two people in my life who I give a damn about what they think. One is a terror if left by herself, and the other one is in this room," I said smiling.

"I am wondering your intentions," asked Itachi "You haven't shown us an ounce of hatred or distrust, yet you haven't asked us for information or tried to be very friendly."

"I just know that there are somethings in life that can't be helped," I said looking at him, "As for your Akatsuki plans...I know what they do, but I can't remember why or what they are doing. There is a huge chunk missing in that department. I mean it would be unfair for me to ask you to tell us since I haven't saved your life. For all we know this syrup stuff will only slow it down. We won't know unless we see a med-nin."

"There is someone who can tell us that," said Itachi, "Her name is Miyuki Sukaretto. She works for Pein and resides in Amegakure and treats anyone with serious injuries. She gave me this medicine, but she didn't know as much as you did about what was wrong with me."

"Alright," I said now pouring the last of the syrup into a bottle and corking it, "We travel there. Hopefully Kori will give us some intel on what is going on on her end."

"Aren't you worried that you may be captured?" asked Kisame, "That is Pein's village."

"Well as long as Zetsu isn't creeping," I told them, "We should be fine. I can cast a vocal based genjutsu as far as my voice can carry. I can amplify it with items that carry sound but they have to be charged with my chakra before hand...if I remember Ame correctly, then it should have good acoustics."

"How much do you know about us?" asked Itachi.

"I will fill you in on basic info while we walk," I said.

"Attempt to do anything funny," warned Kisame.

"I know it looks bad that I helped Itachi with no payment, but the best thing he can give..he has already given. Look let's go. I have a feeling we are on a tight schedule," I said.

We then began to make our way towards Ame. Though we were arguing on how we should get there. The quickest way would be to speed through the north western part of the Land of Fire but the easiest would take us around the border and it would take us longer. Plus we would go through the Land of Sound and I wasn't sure Kori had Sasuke a bit less crazy. I knew one way of getting a hold of her, but it would be a long shot...She did have a long range skill but the farther the distance, the fuzzier the reception. That and if we kept it up too long she would pass out due to exhaustion.

**Kori's POV**

We had been traveling for about a while. Thankfully excuses of him not being ready and he had yet to unlock the Mangekyō Sharingan helped me keep him far away from Konoha. I had worried he would try and do a full scale assault on Konoha, but thankfully he didn't. It did make me wonder if he was genuinly curious about his brother or just grabbing power through me. I wasn't even sure it was possible to give him the Mangekyō Sharingan through the memories. Damn my over confidence and half baked plans. I decided it was time to talk to Yuki. I opened my senses.

_Yuki! How are your doing?_

_...Ko...is...uki! Need...to...you...Have...older...Itachi._

I was knocked down to my knees with that one. The long range communication jutsu me and Yuki developed worked both ways but it took more strain on me...considering it was like picking out one person among thousands, I think I did well. Suigetsu walked up to me.

"Are you alright?" he asked helping me up.

"Dizzy spell," I said, "I tried to focus on something too far away. The message was choppy at best, so I need to bring out my wolf."

"Your summons are wolves?" asked Sasuke.

"No, my tattoo. I can hold them much longer and they can travel much farther than shadow clones and copies of myself. It still has a shelf life though...The longest I can hold it is three days. Thankfully it is wicked fast. Think of him as a line between me and my sis. It helps me get better reception when conversing a long way away from someone, but I will out cold at least on this end. My consciousness needs to travel with him if I am to communicate, otherwise I can give simple commands like attack, fetch, retrieve, and ambush," I said lowering my tunic, which was now repaired, to reveal the full tattoo.

"That looks so real," said Jugo before he watched me release the wolf from my skin, "How is that possible?"

"Living Ink, it is only temporary. It takes days to accomplish. I have to constantly set aside chakra to 'feed' it, after that I can release it for a set amount of time depending on how long it has been fed. The wolf here, I have had for a few weeks, so I can have him active for about three days time. Unlike true living creatures, he isn't bound by foot travel," I said turning to the wolf as he laded on all fours on the ground.

The wolf itself had a wispy look to him but still remained solid. The purples and grays melted into one another and I blended to make a white base on his fur with a only the outline of him still containing the usual purple hue. He had dual colored eyes, one sky blue, the other a deep gold, and when he moved, he seemed to have a smoke trail following him. Sitting down on his haunches, he still stood up to hip and he looked strong yet sleek. His smooth fur hid his muscles very well but the look he gave everyone told them he had strength and intelligence.

"That tattoo only covered your shoulder, how can he get so big?" asked Suigetsu.

"Resizing..It hurts to condense them into my skin but It allows me to hide full scale models of things on my body...what better place to hide weapons than in plain sight?" I smiled, "This is Stärke. Normally I wouldn't name them but, I have become quite attached to him." I then bent down and Stärke, padded over, "Find Yuki." I looked up at Jugo, "Care to carry me? I won't break. Promise." I looked at the wolf one final time, "Be swift."

I then transferred my consciousness to it and watched as he sped away through the land.

**Yuki's POV**

We stopped near the Valley Of the End for now. Itachi was still sick and I didn't want him to overexert himself. It was around lunch when we stopped but I didn't want any patrols seeing us, so we skipped out on the campfire. I could hear a distant howl. Shikamaru and the other jumped up and were on high alert. I listened again, if it was one of Kori's creations it wouldn't howl again if it picked up our scent. I held up my hand.

"I think it is Kori," I said.

Neji's face lit up a little. However when her wolf landed he frowned, "That isn't Kori."

The wolf saw him and jumped on him looking very happy. After pouncing him, the wolf stole his headband and ran behind me snickering. It then sat down and began chewing on it.

"Give that back!" said Neji getting up.

"Anyway," I said rolling my eyes, "So what is up?"

The wolf stopped chewing the headband and looked up at me. Then he stood up on his hind legs and placed his forepaws on my shoulders. He then touched my face with his nose.

_Sorry, couldn't help myself...Neji deserves slobber after that comment. Er, we are still in the Land of Sound. Sasuke is doing well...though I don't know if I am doing any good. How is Itachi?_

"Itachi is fine, I need to give this scroll to you. Right now we are heading to a med-nin up in Ame," I said, "That funky stuff you had me make...is it dangerous?"

_As long as he doesn't drink it like tea, no. I doubt asparagus, lemons, vanilla and some gelatin would kill him. The flavor might though..._

"How long before we can see one another?" I asked.

_Well...Sasuke is coming to grips he has been lied to...as much as it is helping, it is also adding fuel to the fire. My mind is suffering along with him. Give me a week, if things go well they should be able to see one another and not kill one another._

"Oh Itachi wants to speak with you," I said pointed behind me.

The wolf removed himself off my shoulders and padded over to Itachi. Lowering itself, to show it wasn't threatening, it approached him. Itachi looked questioningly at the wolf.

"Just touch the top of his head, Kori is in there," I said smiling.

He placed his hand slowly on the wolf's head.

**Kori's POV**

_Sup bro! Well that would be if you were my bro._

"You are a boy," said Itachi.

_No, the wolf is a boy. I am very much a girl. I sent to wolf because I can carry my consciousness with it...since it is a part of me. It won't last long though. I need a favor of you. Two actually._

"So there is a price," Itach said narrowing his eyes.

_Only a thought...or a set of. I need you to remember your bother, how you saw him. I need that. Second, I need you to seal away Orochimaru forever. I can still feel his presence in Sasuke's mind. For these favors, I promise to fix your eyes._

"Empty words," said Itachi.

_Are all Uchiha thick! God...I am doing this for you and your bro, man. You two were taken away from one another because of douche bags. I want you two to be happy. Is that too much? I think not. Now get it through your skull. If I have to have Yuki put you in a coma and hand deliver you to me so I can fix you, I will. Your life has been a...trial. I know you hate war, and dude I am WORKING on it. If I can save you, you and your bro can kill Madara. He can't do it alone. Here let me show you something...it is what will happen after you die by his hand...seriously...I am working my ass off to change this fate!_

I showed him a now possibility of the future of Sasuke joining the Akatsuki and going on the war path of avenging his clan. Everything that I could remember, I showed him. After the set memories were played, he looked shocked and disappointed.

"So I failed," he said sadly.

_You think! Jesus! I ought to lock you up for being selfish. Things don't work out how you plan. When you left your little bro, you put a void that would never be filled. It bred hatred, and he...he throws his life away for something so STUPID! I hate war, I hate ass holes, I...am having a difficult time. When I first entered your brother's mind...the hate, it is like a plague. I wouldn't recommend going in there...Oh shit...my time is almost up. So can I please, please, please, have one memory...the best thing about your bro you love. PLEASE!_

"If you can succeed where I failed," he said, "Alright. Only because you are trying to help him."

_Thank you! You are the best. I promise to do whatever you ask when we meet in person...Thank you!_

Before my time was up I asked Stärke to brush up against Neji. He did as I asked though he rolled his eyes. When Neji pet him on the top of his head I burst out in joy.

_NEJI! LOVE YOU! Omigah I am so sorry for ditching! I promise to make it up to you! So what are you gonna do when we see one another? Oh are you going to go with Yuki? If so we can see one another sooner! _

"Calm down," said Neji, "You are thinking a mile a minute."

_Sorry..miss you._

"I miss you too," he said, "Why couldn't you come here personally?"

_Oh don't get down. I am babysitting the freak tent...-snicker- Look I don't have much time left..Behave, don't fight with Itachi or Kisame, and I will see you soon._

"Don't die," he said.

_Don't kiss the wolf either..it is a boy after all and I don't think he'd appreciate being kissed by you._

"Why would I kiss a wolf?" asked Neji.

_Because you love me._

"Fine," he said scowling, and blushing, "I do love you but I still would not kiss a wolf."

_If it was the only way to save my life?_

"I would have to think about it," he teased.

_I will take that as 'I would totally make-out with it'. Bye! I will see you on the border of Ame in a week or so. Maybe somewhere else if it is decided. _

_Never make me play delivery boy for your love fest._

_Sorry Stärke. Hey why are you giving me lip! I made your ass!_

_You were silly enough to give me advanced intelligence. You wanted me to be as life-like as possible. Though I swear you say sit, fetch, or beg I will hurt you._

_Moody...it must be that time...Seriously letting you out for one day and you are already too big for your inky fur! Tsk. So will you be renting my mind while you sleep?_

_Yes._

_Good, Free range on when you come out but you have to protect me. Stay with Yuki for now. Come back when they have finished talking with the doctor._

I then made my way back to by body, crash course style. The rush of the air was interesting, considering I couldn't feel it, but when I jerked awake and fell out of Jugo's grip, I felt the landing.

"Ow," I said rubbing my head, "You can let go of my legs now."

"Oh, I am sorry," said Jugo dropping my feet.

"What is going on?" asked Sasuke.

"They are off to see a doctor to see if my cure is working, after that we will meet up," I said picking my butt of the ground, "So about a week is my time frame..Boy am I tired."

"You were passed out for fifteen minutes," said Suigetsu.

"You have your mind separate from your body and travel far away and speak to someone, without losing yourself. Then rush back to your body before your mind becomes jelly. I mean I don't know if I stop breathing or anything," I said rubbing the newly acquired lump on the back of my head, "I will be happy when they make cell phones. Don't ask."

We then headed off in a random direction and continued walking. We then found a village to rest in for a while, while I waited for the call back from Yuki.

**Yuki's POV**

It took us a while to get to the doctor that we were supposed to meet. She was considerate and actually met us outside Ame, a few hours from where we were. I was surprised when she entered the room. She was just barely taller than me, standing at five foot five, and had golden like eyes, though I was sure they could be hazel. Her pale blue-silver hair was tied up in cat ears that had braids wrapping around them and falling behind her shoulders, while her bangs framed her face, she also had a slight tan to her. Her outfit consisted of a white low cut v-neck tunic that may have been a dress once, but was slit up to her black obi that was wrapped around her waist, over her dress thing was a dark navy blue cropped jacket that belled around her hands. She then had a dark red body suit under her dress thing that even fitted around her feet, and gave her shoe like footies. She also had two earrings that dangled from her ears, a small chain connecting the red orb to the hook like end of it.

When she entered the room, it seemed to light up from her personality alone. She always had a smile on her face, and seemed really sweet. As she walked, it almost looked like she literally had a bounce in her step, as she made her way over to the two who were familiar to her. As she saw Itachi and Kisame she greeted them like old friends and even got to hug Kisame. When she turned to hug Itachi her grin got wider.

"Itachi-sama!" she said happily, "Good to see you looking better!"

"I am here to get a second opinion really," he said while showing himself to a bed.

"Um, I must ask that everyone else leave," she smiled.

"Alright," I said walking out.

Half an hour later she appeared outside the room she was using, "Itachi-sama will see you now."

I walked in with the others, there was one question on everyone's mind. We just didn't know who would voice it first.

"So what did she say?" asked Kisame.

"I said that there was a slight improvement in his color, and he seems to be having less pain," said Miyuki, "Now if you are going to sit here and talk behind my back, I think a lesson in manners is in order."

"We apologize," said Neji, "It is just that there is a hope that a medicine a friend created is helping him. It may even be a possible cure. Someone just got ahead of themselves."

"Oh," blushed Miyuki, "Well, I can't say that he is getting better without some tests. When I scanned him, there was a slight increase in his chakra flow. It may be nothing, but I can't dismiss the fact that it seems to be stabilizing a little. Who is your friend?"

"My sister," I told her, "She knew Itachi was sick and she researched fatal illnesses from curable to incurable. Fortunately we he contracted Malaria, according to the notes she has in this book. Well they aren't notes just a disease reference guide. She also tried researching cures for him, how I don't know, but apparently she found a mixture of plants that could help."

"I would like to take a look at these notes," she said narrowing her eyes, "Since Itachi has been my patient, I am not about to let some wanna be doctor kill him. It has been a miracle he has survived this long."

"I understand," I said taking out the book and showing it to her, "Page 23 is where it begins."

Miyuki read through the pages quickly but apparently accurately, because her face began to try and conceal her emotions. After checking it over she held out her hand.

"I need the scroll," she asked, "The way your sister puts her notes, while they are disorganized they appear accurate. This book is supposed to compliment that scroll she made, is it around?"

"Yep, the neck of a wolf," I said as Stärke padded in.

"I can't say that I can agree to work with you, Konoha nin," she said, "but with what I have seen you, well half of you _are _concerned about his well being. As a servant of Pein, I should alert your presence, but as a medical professional, I can only see a sick patient with good friends. Who ever your sister is, she has very detailed information. I know that Tsunade is Hokage of Konoha now, and I must respect her as a superior healer, would your sister by chance have been instructed by her?"

"Yes and no, Tsunade beat chakra control into us. Kori was never taken as an apprentice as far as I know. Where we are from there is a cure for it, and it is easily obtained for most people," I said, "I think Kori may have read too much when she was young. That and Konoha has a good medical team of people to treat its villagers. They treated us more than once, but not for Malaria...just us being accident prone."

"Why did you not seek the cure?" asked Miyuki.

"Well if we knew where we came from, we would have," I said leaning against the wall, "When we woke up...we knew everyone and everything about them but nothing about ourselves. Over time stuff filled in but we still haven't figured out everything." I took the scroll off of Stärke and looked at Itachi, "So.."

"She can be trusted," said Itachi, "She has kept my illness a secret so far." Itachi then pulled a container out of his robes, "You will need this as well Miyuki."

Miyuki grabbed the items and went to the corner of the room to read. When she finished she held up the bottle, "As much as I would like to keep this and make more...I can't. This will work but you have to be careful or his sight may worsen. He should take a small spoonful of it at his meals, it has a more potent efect in its congealed form. Give my gratitude to your sister for helping to save someone. Maybe one day when we are not considered enemies, I could meet her."

"Enemies and Kori...there really isn't a line for her when it comes to villages or what not. She only dislikes specific people," I told her, "After I tell her about you, she will so try and see you. She has a bad habit of wanting to be friends with everyone."

"Well perhaps that is a good thing," she smiled, handing me back the scroll and medicine, "Now you be off. I must return to my post. Itachi-sama, Kisame-sama, stay safe. If you ever need anything don't hesitate to ask."

We left the small inn, I looked down at Stärke and he seemed to understand. I attached the scroll and a few notes on him again and watched him leave. I hoped he would make it back before the chakra keeping him around would deplete.

**Kori's POV**

We were still at the inn, I had been working with Sasuke while we waited. I had already showed him the memories of Itachi. It was unusual to see him cry, but since we were in our minds, I doubted he cared anymore. My scenery changed a bit but so did his. Mine took on a more neo-goth look but still retained the bright colors of the field, his had more color added. His mind was not just four simple walls anymore, now there was more depth. Itachi's image had changed, from being in fire to reaching out to him but being pulled away by the shadows of Danzo and Madara. The image of his family and clan being slaughtered was now distant, placed in a corner of a now remodeled area, looking like his old home. Feint images of his friends long ago, now seemed to flicker in and out of appearance sometimes. Orochimaru was still lurking about but eventually I knew that snake would get what is coming to him. It was still dark but there was a bit of hope.

As for his inner self, he had more color to his body and the black veins were not as apparent and he no longer was crying that black stuff, the hole in his chest was now trying to slowly stitch over. His hands now had a form and didn't look like they were withered or diseased. There was still more work to be done, but in all honesty I was amazed at what I accomplished, though I didn't do it alone. Itachi, various memories, and lots of luck helped me.

Thinking to myself I didn't hear the howl of Stärke, and was scared out of my wits when the wolf landed in front of me. Picking myself off the ground, the Living Ink smiled. He showed me the items he carried, and yawned as I took them off. After that, I went through the slow, painful process of him returning to my skin. I tried to take my mind off it by reading the scrolls. When he finished fusing back I told him to sleep well as I delivered the news to the others.

"Itachi looks like he will be recovering. There is actually a letter for you Sasuke from him," I said handing him the unopened letter, "So what does it say?"

"Itachi wants to see me," said Sasuke, "We are leaving."

I didn't know if this was a good thing. I mean I had made progress but it would take a fucking miracle for Sasuke to not want to beat Itachi. We gathered and made out way to where we were supposed to meet Itachi. When we arrived, I was beginning to get worried about what would happen. I knew this was the Uchiha Hideout, this was supposed to be where Sasuke 'killed' Itachi. Fear began to creep up on me as we arrived. We made our way to the throne room where Yuki, Kisame, Shikamaru, Neji, and Itachi were. When I saw Neji, I ran full force into him, forgetting how to stop. After we untangled ourselves from the crash, I apologized.

"Sorry!" I said blushing, "I um..hi."

Neji hugged me, more like glomped me, "I missed you, but if you go on another crazy adventure with crazy people...without me...I will have to refuse cuddles."

"Low blow," I said smiling, "Alright I will take you next time..if there is a next time. Oh Itachi in sight..pounce commencing in three...two..."

When I said one, I was already in the air, arms stretched out, and smile cutting into my face it was so wide. I landed on him and began talking rapidly again.

"Ohmigahd how are you Itachi? Did my medicine work? Are you feeling okay? Are you mad at me for telling Sasuke about things? How is your eyesight? Thank you again. Oh it is wonderful to see you alive," I said practically in one breath.

Yuki pulled me off him and apologized, "Sorry you are like her hero or something. She is excitable...and this is Kori."

"She is unusual," said Itachi after getting over the inital shock of almost being tackled.

"Thank you!" I said now in full hyper mode.

"Aren't you forgetting to be ref for the...er..." said Yuki before whispering, "You know the..thing."

That is when all hell broke loose. Sasuke flipped his lid and we had to hightail it out of the room before we were stabbed or roasted. I was ticked off because I just thought Sasuke was wasting my time. After all that work...and he still went ballistic. I broke loose of the vice grip Yuki and Neji had me in and went into the field. It wasn't the best idea I had because I just so happened to land between them as a throwing stars were sent flying. The fight seemed to stop as I felt weird for a second..

"I look bad don't I?" I asked.

"KORI!" screamed Yuki.

My eyesight began to fade as I felt the rush of pain hit before my legs gave out from under me. The whole world began to spin and play in slow motion.

"Shit," I said hitting the ground.

**Yuki's POV**

Kori had placed herself in the cross fire of Itachi and Sasuke and she didn't even bother to try and defend herself. The two brothers stopped as they realized their attacks struck her in various parts of her body. I couldn't tell if they hit vitals or not, all I saw was her collapse to the floor. I heard myself scream as she hit the ground, I knew she was dead. Though I wanted to rush to her side I was frozen. Neji rushed in my stead and began to run toward her.

Before he could make it, she began to move. Holding up her hand she rose up through sheer will and began to take out the throwing stars that littered her body. I rush of air exploded from where she stood, probably her chakra releasing the seals to heal herself...but something was wrong. Very wrong. She moved as though she was in extreme pain or tired. Her head slowly rose and reveled that her face was contorted as tears streamed down her face.

"You are brothers," she whispered, "Family!"

Wounds that had not healed, began to secrete this black substance from them that began to spread on her skin. Moving, it began covering her quickly before ebbing away, revealing a physical change in her appearance. Her hair was now jet black and she had two black lines running from her hairline, down to her jaw, and running over her eyes, which now lost all color to them. Her lips were stained black with one line running from her lower lip to her chin. Her hands began to look withered as she held them out pointing at both Itachi and Sasuke. Now on her wrists were two thick black manacles with chains hanging down to her knee as she held up her arms. When she opened her mouth her teeth had now become sharp and she now beared fangs. She began to speak, but as she did so it seemed like razors were cutting across my skin.

"I am so fucking SICK of your shit!" she said, voice deepening, snapping her head at Sasuke, " Fucking grow up before I break you into submission. Yes he left, and you just can't get over the fact he didn't take you. Oh go cry in a fucking corner before you begin cutting yourself because your emotional depth now is reduced to a thimble."

Sasuke and Itachi looked shocked. Hell even I was, I had seen her upset, but this was beyond pissed!

"You," she said now facing Itachi, "Oh my god my life sucks...oh look I am sick so I am only going to exist while I torment my brother like a kitten to make him hate me so he won't know why I left. Oh he must believe that I am the bad guy while our psychotic ancestor runs around killing people with joy and I will entrust his obsessive best friend to 'save him'. Oh god, coward...You could have at least be enough of a man to fucking be responsible for your mistakes. Yeah so what you butchered your family, your clan for peace..at least you had one! Now choke on your own pathetic, meaningless existence because you went out of your way to die and caused your little brother to be the poster boy for an unstable emo kid with so many issues his therapist will have to prescribe medication to himself to deal with that shit!"

"Kori?" I asked out loud.

She spun around, "WHAT?"

"I think you need to calm down," I told her, "You look like something out of a horror movie."

"Oh, shut up. Stay out of this or I will break you as well. If they are not going to be mature adults like their _age_ says, then I will beat the living hell out of them until they are unconscious and wipe their memories," she turned to look at Suigetsu who now drew his blade, "Don't even think about it Water Boy, not unless you think living in many small vials scattered across the world is your next big move. I am now your hate...everyone that I have touched...did this...so now is a little payback...starting with you."

I blinked an eye and she was using her chains to ensnare Sasuke. When Itachi moved to save his brother it began as us against her.

* * *

I know Pein's name can also be spelled Pain...but I think the former spelling works better to prevent confusion because his broken record of pain speeches.

**Stärke-** German for Strength, I thought it was appropriate with the meaning behind the wolf tattoo. It was also one of the words that popped up that I could see being a name.

**Music Inspiration:** Muse -Uprising...good song and fitting if I might add. This is a good song seeing the point of view of Kori trying to save all she can.

**Justus:** Okay it has been a while since I have explained Kori's new Jutsu. Now to cover them before I forget.

**Art Fusion**: Kori combines two or more colors for various effects, depending on what type of ink used, colors, and pigments she has.

**Living Ink: **Kori has the ability to make her art come 'alive' for periods of time. Unlike Sai's ink, these creations take days to complete and have to store chakra from Kori over the course of the days to animate. They also seem to have an intelligence of their own. If they were to get damaged, they would bleed a mixture of chakra and ink until they 'died' because the chakra holding them together bled out. They are able to carry out simple missions if Kori is unavaliable at the time, and unlike shadow clones or other copies of herself, she doesn't need to constantly waste chakra keeping them around. The longest Kori has ever animated one was for three days.

**Long Range Telepathy: **Kori has to focus on her target and concentrate. Then she is able to communicate with people over miles of distance, however it takes a great deal of chakra and focus to use. Another weakness is the farther the distance, the more 'static' is present.

* * *

**Aplenwolf: **Oh no, his eyesight isn't going to be fixed by Yuki. It is most likely that he will need an eye transplant. Lol, yes Fable was awesome...Er...now lets see..The eye transplant would need to be someone close to Itachi, if possible of pulling it out of my head and working I am thinking of something. *giggles* I hope you like your name.

**gunitatsuhiko: **Welcome new reader. Thank you, I try to be as awesome as I can be. I am glad you like it.

**Sukaretto Miyuki: **Here is your cameo...did you like it? Well I loved Suigetsu and I would totally see him as a brother from another mother if I could ever get the chance of meeting him! So I incorporated that in how they react. Watch...read...words just help you imagine something. Seriously I totally pretend to watch the stories I read...so it is okay. Oh god, yeah the research was a necessary evil...I don't want to write something that I have no idea about or in this case didn't have all the facts. What if I did something wrong? That would be bad. As for your character...I just have personality and looks...so far. Idk if I will bring you back...there is a high chance though. As for the look I blended Rin Mao and Ryoko's looks and gave you Moca's personality, but we didn't get a chance to see her snap...lol.

**ThorLuvR: **Well as for the Sakura thing...I blame her anger on her teacher and the whole 'I was useless so now that I have power I am going to abuse it.' That and the whole angsty 'the love of my life left me, I am angry...' yeah I am going with that. As for her relationship with Naruto. In this story we are going to see a different side of the realtionship, not so violent since A. I am bringing Sasuke back and B. creative license says I can tweak it and get away with it...lol. As for the Neji thing...I am working on it. The next chapter will be bloody mush, seeing as how I have to finish the fight and brink Kori back...using the power of love! -snorts- cheesy as hell I know. Right now...she reminds me of Willow from Buffy: the vampire slayer series where Willow tries to destroy the world..well Kori isn't trying to destroy the world...itself...just maybe a few personal worlds. That saying goes 'to the world you may be one person, to one person you may be the world.' Yes, the most covered anime guy that I have seen so far...is sexy..I think it is the fact we don't know what he looks like so everyone can imagine what they want and they are neither right or wrong. Oh in this story Madara is going to die...slowly...*evil laugh*.

* * *

**River: **So here we see the cameos that I promised, and Kori's Black Art. Sorry for the cliffie but if I kept writing I feel like the chapter was too long. So yeah, Kori is beserk...so how are they going to fix it? Will we see the brothers make up? After the showdown what is going to happen? So next chapter we will see it all come together and if I can fit it in and it seem to flow...Naruto comes back!

****I thank all my loyal readers who have been with me since the get go. I have some good news/bad news. I am starting school Aug 29th and will be in class from 7am to 3pm (-5:00 GMT/ Eastern Time Zone) and studies will eat up my time. HOWEVER I will NOT put this on hiatus. I am just warning you guys that the chappies won't pop out like baby bunnies during the Spring. Bear with me...I apologize and grovel at your review mercy right now. **  
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	29. Chapter 29: Your Monster and Secrets

**Yuki's POV**

Kori was vicious. When Itachi moved to save Sasuke, she used his apparent emotional reaction to ensare him in some black tendrils that appeared to snake from her arm. Laughing like a maniac, she let Sasuke go before kicking him with enough force to make a dent in the wall with his body. Turning on Itachi she grinned.

"Oh so you _do _have a heart," she smirked, "Mind if I rip it out?"

That is when we all stepped in. Though Kori was smart, she avoided Shikamaru's shadow jutsu, and used one of the throwing stars she had nearby and tossed it at my skull. She knew who was the most dangerous to her at the moment. She also took to the running up the nearby wall to avoid being hit by Kisame's Dochū Senkō. It didn't help that she could practically read our minds so stratagizing was out of the question. Jugo was already transformed and was chasing after her, making more holes in the wall as she dodged his Piston Fist attacks. Itachi and Sasuke had already released thier Sharringan to help us.

"What if I kill, what if I hurt?" Kori sang, "Poor Jugo..he can't control himself. Oh will he turn on his comrades? Who knows."

Jugo seemed to be losing it as she taunted him into more rage. She dropped Itachi and used the chains she had to rush behind Jugo, after doging an attack and wrap them around. Then jumping off the wall she positioned herself to rocket off of it and smash Jugo's head into the floor.

"Oh lookie! Now you can't hurt me!" she laughed as she unravled the chains. She looked at me and what seemed like seconds, she was before me, "Oh no sissy...no songs to sing for you!" Taking her hand she grabbed my throat and picked me up and squeezed, cutting off my air supply, "Go ahead, sing some sorrow. What happened to me? You all of you. Your fault, your fault! I should crush your vocal cords and watch you twitch as you suffocate. Oh someone hurt my sister, I must protect her. I am not so helpess you twit! You never listened really...did you. Now you will."

Neji began to make his move, "Byakugan! Hakke Kūshō!"

Kori moved swiftly out of the way and tossed me into the path of the attack. I was blown back into her using her tendril things to make a spike to impale me with. I braced for impact but thankfully Itachi and Sasuke forced her to move. Both of them used a Hōsenka no Jutsu on her so she would have to move before getting burned. She jumped out of the way and directly into the path of Suigetsu attempting to cleave her with the Kubikiribōchō and Kisame attempting to quarter her with his Samehada. Taking her chains, she wrapped one around Suigetsu's blade and snapped her arm down so his attack would miss her and aim for Kisame. Kisame had to duck under the sword before his head was lopped off.

"God you two are so much alike...kill, kill, kill," she laughed as she danced between the blades, " A secret keeper who murders, and a murderer who keeps himself a secret."

"Hold still," said Suigetsu.

"Like hell water brat!" she sneered before taking out two vials out of her pouch, "Eat this."

She crushed a vial into her hand and punched at Suigetsu. Using his Suika no Jutsu, he let her hand pass through him, though when she retracted her hand, she opened it to reveal some powder stored inside. With Kisame, she tossed the other vial at him, which he smashed with his blade.

Forming a handseal she ignited the oil paint and started to congeal Suigetsu, "Fusion Art: Sticky Explosion."

"What the hell?" yelled Suigetsu when his body began to stiffen.

"You bitch," screamed Kisame when Smaehada caught fire.

"Hmm, say something sushi?" she quipped, "Oh yeah...I remember you were screaming! Impression Black Art: Living Nightmare!"

Whatever she did she caused Kisame to drop down on the floor holding his head and screaming. Itachi was now using his Mangekyō Sharingan and aiming at her. Kori took notice and dashed towards Sasuke grabbing him and using him as a meat shield.

"I wonder Itachi, how much force I can use before his head pops?" she said.

Sausuke used his curse seal to bat her away with his wing as he unsheathed his Kusanagi no Tsurugi. Swiftly turning around he used his Chidori Eisō to try and pierce her. She weaved under the strike but still had to move to keep out of range of his attack. Running she took out two vials and uncorked them both. I tossed two shuriken at her, to distract her while Shikamaru prepared to capture her. She saw the attack coming and jumped up, but not before being struck by Shikamaru's Kage Nui no Jutsu. The threads began to pierce her hands and feet and threw her to the ground. She laughed when she found herself being pinned.

"Ow," she grinned, "So...shadow man, think you have me?"

"Pretty much," said Shikamaru.

"Good that you think so..," she said before she began to individually rip out the threads and tear herself away.

"Kori!" yelled Shikamaru as he jumped in front of her, "If you keep this up we will have to stop you!"

"Stay out of my way," she said narrowing her eyes, "I will turn on you as well. These people let hate blind them from what is important."

"And they got over it!" he said catching her wrist as she stumbled due to her injuries, "And you will too. All I have heard you talk about is healing scars that don't exist, yet here you are injuring those close to you."

"They all deserved it," she hissed.

"Then so do you," he said, "Think about it for a moment. If you use hate against hate..What does that accomplish?"

"It..." she stopped and stood there.

"You are calling Itachi foolish when you are shouldering people's hate, trying to help them when you bottle it up!" he said before catching her in his shadow justu to bind her again, "Can't you see what you are doing...just take a look at Yuki!"

She looked around Shikamaru at me, I was trying to help break the jutsu over Kisame and help Suigetsu. I was sure a bruise was forming over where her hands held me. I was barely capable of moving swiftly so I had to pull myself back for support.

"Don't act like you care Shadow Man. Imassive, over analizing, and the only thing you feel is indifference half the time," she growled, "You will never see what is important until it is ripped away from you."

Neji then came behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist, "Kori...stop."

"Don't even try to reason with me. Hatred for your family, sticking yourself in a cage because it fit your twisted mind. Then when Naruto knocked some sense into you all you can be now is perfect. Work, that is all you do. You never have time for anything else, and you never show anything. I swear you are not much better than a puppet," she hissed trying to struggle against something.

"Is that what you really think?" asked Neji, "Then if I am just a puppet then my life doesn't mean anything does it."

Kori stopped moving, "Life...huh. Don't tell me you are threatening me by saying you are willing to die."

"If that stops you," he said, "Shikamaru."

Shikamaru released her and Neji held her close as Shikamaru preformed the Kage Nui no Jutsu once more. This time both of them were pierced because of it. She didn't seem to notice until Neji fell from her, injured. She turned around and grabbed him, cradeling him in her arms.

"Neji?," she said, the ink-like substance receeding back into her in a matter of moments she looked like herself again. Blinking she looked around, "Why are you all looking at me?"

"Great, first she goes beserk on us then she can't remember?" sighed Shikamaru.

She looked down, "Neji! Oh my god what happened?"

"You," he smiled.

"I did this? Oh god! How many of you are injured?" she gasped taking healing ointments out of her pouch and scrolls, "Ho-hold on...I will...h-heal you."

"I am not that bad," he said, "It just looks nasty. Nothing vital was hit."

**Kori's POV**

Neji touched the top of my head and everything from me blacking out to now was played. I tried to kill people...Needless to say I flipped out. I only stuck around to heal everyone and unfreeze Suigetsu before I ran off. I let my anger get the best of me...and the hate. I was no better than any of the evil people in the world. I even hurt my own sister..god I really didn't want to face anyone right now. Ironic, I called Itachi the coward but right now...I was being pretty pathetic.

I was outside for a while before anyone came to get me. I fugured they knew I was trying to come to grips with what happened. I was lost in thought when I heard a crunch of earth behind me. Neji was standing there, bandages covering the wounds he had. He slowly walked over to me and sat down beside me.

"We were trying to decide what happened to you. Yuki is going crazy thinking you jumped of the roof of this building. Thank Shikamaru for keeping her occupied before she dragged you back. About what you said," he started.

"I am sorry. What I said and did," I said looking away.

I was pulled in close and my head turned back so I could look him in the eye, "It wasn't right or wrong. It was true. We all did some pretty crappy things for different reasons, but you showed us that we all carry some hate inside. Though I could have lived without the puppet comment. I think I should try to be a bit more open from now on. I could see it in your eyes that me being closed off was hurting you. It isn't that I don't care..You just seemed to be showing it for the both of us."

I snorted, "Well...um..wait you aren't mad at me?"

"I am disappointed that you of all people couldn't find a better way, but maybe we all needed that rude awakening," he said kissing me on the forehead, "Come on. I think we need to head back."

"Er," I said fidgiting, "They won't attack me will they? I mean I healed them but I um...kida was the cause."

"You can hide behind me and I will protect you," he teased.

"As if!" I laughed, "If violence is in order I will just sic Stärke on thier butts!"

"Stärke?" he asked.

"The wolf I sent to you guys. Right now he is taking a nap, but probably by tomorrow he should be awake," I said behind helped up by Neji, "So um...lets see what reaction I caused."

I walked back into the now partcially destroyed throne room. Suigetsu and Kisame were sparring, while Shikamaru and Yuki were grouped up with Itachi and Sasuke. I was amazed to see those two actually talking without fighting. When Yuki saw me she crashed into me.

"Oh my god I was so worried!" she said squeezing me so hard I couldn't breathe, "Please don't do that again. I mean if you want to talk about stuff I am here and I love you and please do not do that again or I will kill you."

"Choking...not breathing," I wheezed. She let me go and jerked me behind her while running towards Sasuke and Itachi.

"I think you two have something to say to her," she said pushing me between the two.

"Ek!" I said while flinching, "I am so sorry that I flipped..."

"We should apologize," said Itachi, "I think your words and actions, though harsh, showed us something. We both have issues we need to work out, but I think with help...we could resolve the gap I caused."

Sasuke was pouting trying not to look like he was grateful. Itachi elbowed him in the side, "Alright," he said, "Thanks."

"So does this mean you will stop trying to kill him?" I asked.

"For now," he said, "But as brothers we should fight sometimes."

"Ew, perfect relationship...pass," I said giggling, "I finally got the missing piece to the puzzle to unlock the Mangekyō Sharingan for you. Thank Neji for that one. This is a future that never was..or will be...I mean..you know."

I touched Sasuke's forehead and pushed the last few moments of the future I avoided into Sasuke's head. After Sasuke got up, it looked like nothing happened. So to make up for it, I used the living death posion I made for emergancies and struck Itachi with it...

"Sorry, it is nessacery!" I said jumping out of range of Sasuke's attack as he tried to cut off my head.

His Sharringan morphed to the Mangekyō Sharingan that I remembered him having, "What the hell!"

"Dude it so worked...as for your bro..he is just very sleepy. He isn't dead honest! I just put him to sleep...I can wake him up," I said dodging a very close blow to my body, "Hey! Don't cut off my head."

I dodge rolled out of the way of another attack and readied my antidote that would wake him back up. I sped towards him and injected him with the antidote while running for my life. We were halfway around the room before Itachi woke back up.

"What happened?" he asked.

Sasuke glared at me. I backed up and profusly apologized to him again, "Look it was the only way. I should have warned you but I mean if you didn't think it was real then it wouldn't have worked. I mean I gave you the last of my memories of the future where you go all rampage after Itachi dies, and you didn't get the improvement. I mean I deserve a beating but...you are welcome!"

That started a two hour riot act from both Yuki and Itachi being read to me. Though I looked like a wounded puppy I couldn't really say I feel guilty. If we were going to take on Madara, then we would need all the help we can get. I also found out Itachi sealed away Orochimaru for good, which was great to hear on my end. After spending the night we had another issue. We had to get Sasuke back into Konoha, but I wasn't sure Sasuke would go willingly without his brother.

"So what is the plan?" I asked.

"Kisame and I aren't exactly going to be welcomed back into Konoha, and I am still working for the Akatsuki,' said Itachi, 'For the time being we can stay here. It is close enough to Konoha to not raise supsiction if Sasuke wants to visit."

"I am staying with you," said Sasuke.

"You can't," said Itachi, "Not while we are still wanted criminals. I do not want this life for you. As I hear it you still have a home back in Konoha. I am not sure that Tsunade can pardon us for our crimes."

"I think it is better he stays with you Itachi, at least he can stay here," I informed him, "There is a danger back home that if we waltz Sasuke back into the gates, shit will go down. We still have Danzo to deal with. So you guys can live here and if there is anything you need just ask."

"What about us?" asked Jugo.

"Well I think this can be your home...Tsunade doesn't know what all went down and I don't know if you guys will be accepted into Konoha...just yet," I said, "So..I am sorry I can't do more but at least you have a place to roost."

"I will think about it," said Suigetsu.

"I don't mind," said Jugo.

"Well, then here is where I am stuck...I actually like being on this team," I said, "So you may have to replace me Yuki. I mean don't get me wrong, I want to back home, but..."

"I understand," she said, "Maybe I should stop trying to mother you so much. Though, how will Tsunade take all this?"

"Well we won't know until we ask her," I said, "Oh Sasuke...guys. I need to look a little roughed up for our return...so..any ideas?"

**A few days later.**

"Good to see you are still live," said Tsunade, "I take it the mission was a success?"

"Yep!" I said, "We can shake on that!"

I held out my hand and told her everything about what had happened while we were gone. When the memories were over, she nodded her head lightly. She dismissed us from her office, and I was now being dragged away by Neji off somewhere. I just kept silent as we made our way to a nearby cliff and watched the sun set.

"Why am I being shown a romantic time?" I asked, "Are there any family rules or some other funky problem in the imminant future I should know about?"

"No," he said, "Tsunade gave us time off. I am going to use it, to show my girlfriend that I care about her."

I blushed, "You...you..don't have t-to do..."

"I see so that is why you always shower affection," he said smirking, "You don't like it being shown it yourself!"

"I-um..I...left the pants on the oven and the washer is fire!" I burted out a hacked out mashed-up excuse.

He laughed, "Oh god that was the worst excuse I have heard! Are you this embarassed by being show affection?"

I mumbled, in defeat, "Sorta."

**A few months later.**

Itachi and Sasuke were living at the Uchiha Hideout for a while now. I was promoted to Jonin and Tsunade allowed me to work with Sasuke's team in secret. Sai was actually picked to replace me on Yuki's team, and things went smoothly. No one was any wiser that Itachi was close by and alive, and though Sasuke, Suigetsu, or Jugo came and visited us now and again, they were always in disguise. Though as much as I would have liked Sasuke to see Sakura, he convinced me to wait until Naruto's return before he made himself known. Tsunade had pulled a miricle and got forms filled out for Sasuke's team that only needed signed when they were ready to join Konoha, it would pardon some of thier former crimes blaming it on human experimentation and there wouldn't be a trial...though I was still feeling guilty about 'suggesting' the idea to the Elders that those forms were for someone else.

When none of us were busy we crashed at the Hideout and chilled with Sasuke, who was still in need of brushing up his social skills. Itachi finally came out and filled us in on what the Akatsuki were doing and why, which set both Yuki and I on high alert because know I knew that Naruto, Gaara, Killer B, and the lot were in danger. Though if my memory served me correctly the Akatsuki never got to Naruto and Killer B. It was best that we kept that a secret for now, until it was time for us to save Gaara from Itachi's sorta former team mates. I also filled in Itachi on which order the Akatsuki died in and if I thought they deserved to live, which most of them didn't. Since they were still S-ranked nin, they would be extremely useful to us if we convinced them to join us in the 'prevent war' cause, though Suigetsu and Kisame were slightly disappointed. Right now the biggest secret we were keeping was that Sasuke and Itachi were working with us, though with Itachi and Kisame it was only up to a point of telling me or Yuki how close they were to tracking down jinchūrik and capturing them. Other than that info, we really didn't want to know what they were up to...I didn't want to have another 'stop your evil..I will save you' crusade.

Danzo was still trying to give me and Yuki the 'I have good intentions' thing and trying to get us to meet with him, but we kept declining. Sai stopped every now and again to chat with us, though I wasn't sure if that was Sai being Sai or Sai being Danzo's pawn. Neji and I got closer and he started being more affectionate in the open. Times I would catch him holding my hand or he would hug me and catch himself doing it, becoming flustered. It was very cute, which made my inner 'I want to cuddle you forever' part of my personality squeal in delight. It was all going well...

The day came when Naruto was supposed to arrive and Yuki and I had already got everyone together to give him a party. Neji, Hinata, Yuki, Sakura, and I were going to meet him nearby the gate..though things didn't go as planned. Hinata and Sakura were late, for some reason and as Naruto walked through the door he complimented 'Sakura' on her new figure, which caused me to save him from a smackdown. Though what he said to me wasn't much better.

"Hey Hinata!" he said hugging me, "How are you."

"Mffmmf!" I said being squished into his chest.

"Hinata? Has your hair gotten longer? Your boobs look bigger too," he said, "Wow, you haven't blushed once...but you are still quiet."

I released myself from his headlock hug he had me in and was gasping for air. Yuki was just dying of laughter when she heard me being called Hinata. Neji looked like he wanted to rip Naruto a new one, which I was half tempted to watch.

"That is my girlfriend you are harassing," said Neji.

I smacked myself, and quickly said something before Naruto made his disposition worse, "I am not Hinata. My name is Kori, Naruto."

"Wierd...oh..you do have eye color.." he said getting close to my face.

I frowned, "Naruto...my boyfriend is glaring at you with the death stare. Please..DUCK!"

Neji grabbed me and pushed Naruto away in one move. As sweet as the sentiment was I did not feel like being carried bridal style as Naruto tried to make Neji apologize for pushing him. Suddenly I found myself squished between two boys as they stared one another down.

"Oh I swear if you two don't stop I will force you to make out!" I snapped, "As facinating as this is, being smushed between two guy's bodies is not how I want to die in this world!"

Neji backed off and sat me down, "I apologize, but that doesn't give him the excuse to say such things about Hinata."

"Oh cool it, he has been with," I stopped and jumped as I felt a hand begin rubbing my butt. I turned around and full force slapped a certain Toad Sage, "Hands off pervert!"

"Sorry I couldn't help myself with such a beautiful lady," he said, tissue stuck up his nostrils to stop the bleeding.

I was hugged tightly by Neji who just said, "Mine."

I instantly grinned and pecked him on the cheek while returning the favor, pointing at myself I said, "Yours," then I pointed at him, "Mine."

"So Neji where did you meet Kori?" asked Naruto.

"When her and her sister, who you mistook as Sakura, first arrived at the village, myself and Shikamaru were on thier guard," he said, "Many crazy events later...I asked her out."

"I was kidnapped put in the hospital, then he was drugged, and then we-" I said not thinking before a set of hands stopped me in mid sentence.

"It didn't happen as quickly or as wildly as she makes it sound," said Neji blushing.

Sakura and Hinata finally made it, to which I quickly gave suggestions to Naruto to compliment Sakura and Hinata. Though smirked when I felt a familar presence brush against my mind. Sasuke was somewhere about, hiding.

_I wanted to witness Sakura's strength._

_You just wanted to watch your best friend get creamed._

_Sometimes there are benifits to his thick headedness. I will admit I miss the entertainment, Even though he is still annoying. He hasn't changed a bit._

_Not really. So when are you going to say 'hey I am back?'_

_Soon. Right now Itachi is having trouble with his eyes again._

_Oh, I can stop by later to check him out if that is what you want._

_I would appreciate it._

_So is he still bad guy, good guy?_

_Pretty much. I think he has some trouble letting go of a life he has lived for a few years._

_Old habits die hard...oh wait...hilarity ensuing in three...two..one...Damn. That looked like it hurt. Well tell Itachi if he is around I will be there with some food for everyone at seven. It is my turn to do the Weekend Potluck stuff. _

I let go of the connection and caught back up with the group. We then lead him to where the others were so we could party, the Uzumaki Compound. Yuki and I had everyone help and made sure it looked awesome but we also laid down that we weren't going to leave the place trashed. As we entered his home everyone greeted him with a suprise.

"Nani!" said Naruto jumping, "What is all this?"

"Sorry Naruto, Yuki and I wanted to make sure you had a welcome home party," I giggled, "Though there aren't half as many people here that could be."

"What does that mean?" he asked.

"Well frog boy, you will see..." I giggled.

"Eh?" he asked but before he could corner me on the subject he was seperated by someone talking to him while I made my quick escape.

The party went well and we had everyone clean up, so Naruto could make himself at home. However the short break was interrupted as Yuki, Naruto, and I were called to Tsunade's office. I sighed as I knew the ineviatable was coming. I would have to go over all the explinations again and all the other fun stuff. When we arrived Tsunade looked at us.

"Naruto, I called you and those two here to give you warning. It would seem that the Akatsuki's targets are the jinchūriki and we have to do what we can to protect you," she said, "Kori and Yuki have been gracious enough to work with me in trying to help prevent the capture of these people. Garra has already been informed about a possible attack on his village and his capture, the others, we have not been so lucky to get messages to them."

"But what about Sasuke?" asked Naruto.

"I think it would be best if you put that mission behind you right now, I am more worried about your safety,' she said, "According to them, you are safe...for now but I can't take the risk...However, Sakura will be in shortly and I will give you four a mission. There is a rumor that Orochimaru has been slain and Sasuke is out on his own. I want you to go to the last place he was confirmed sighted and check it out."

"Tsunade," I said, "It is too soon...I think."

"Really?" she asked eyebrow raising, "After the reports you have given me...I would think you would be excited about this."

"I am.." I said before deciding that it may have been for the best, "Alright, but we can't leave until after I made dinner."

"What does dinner have to do with this?" asked Naruto.

"You will see," I said, "You get to carry the scroll."

After Sakura was shown in, I took them back to my place and had them help me make enough food to feed everyone. Though both of them were confused.

"Who is going to eat all this?" asked Naruto.

After I finished sealing the last of the food in the scroll, "Shut up. You will see."

When the scroll was packed we made our way back to the Hideout. When we arrived, Yuki and I had them follow us to where we would be eating. When we made it to the now, mess hall, Suigetsu was already there.

"I have been starving for the past hour!" he said, "Wait, since when do we get unusual guests?"

"Since Tsunade decided to meddle," I sighed, "This is Naruto Uzumaki and Sakura Hanturo. Guys this is Suigetsu Hōzuki, he is my team mate, along with Jugo, and someone else."

"So you are stopping by this old place to deliver food?" yelled Naruto at me, "We are wasting time!"

"No...we are not," I said laying the scroll out and releasing the food, "The rest of them should be here by now."

Steps in the hall caused us to look in the doorway. Itachi and Kisame stopped when they saw Sakura and Naruto. I was afraid of a fight so I jumped between them.

"It isn't what it looks like.." I said holding up my hands, "Itachi...Naruto..don't fight."

"Where is Saske?" said Naruto running toward Itachi, but was stopped by my Orange Chains.

"Down boy!" I ordered, "So is he late again for dinner?"

"He is here!" asked Sakura.

"Calm down," came Sasuke's voice behind Itachi, "If you two were any louder, ANBU would be all over this place."

"Sasuke!" yelled both Sakura and Naruto.

"Yes?" he asked, "It is me."

"Are you going to come home?" asked Naruto before he noticed the two brothers standing beside one another, "Hey what is wrong with you...Itachi is right there!"

"Itachi isn't my concern anymore," said Sasuke walking toward the food, "There better not be natto in there."

"No I got ongri though," I smiled running over to the tray and picking it up, "All yours. I would have been here sooner but with the mission of Tsunade ordering me to bring them here, I decided to make all your faves."

"Hm," said Sasuke before he stole the tray away from me, "Thank you."

"What the hell is going on here?" yelled Naruto, "Why is Sasuke being nice, why is Itachi and Kisame here? Why am I so confused?"

"Calm down," I said, "We will explain things over dinner. Now eat. Besides you make Jugo upset, it is your problem."

Everyone gathered at the table and began helping themselves to the various foods, well all except for the two stunned shinobi. I just laughed to myself while trying to figure out how to explain everything to them.

* * *

**Black Art: **Kori's claims that her form represents all the hate in the world, she goes beserk. She pysically changes and becomes very quick, moving at almost unreadable speeds. The black ink that covers her body can be used to form tendrils or weapons to attack opponents. The chains she wears are used to bind her opponents to deliver powerful melee attacks or toss them away. Since she uses her chakra to eleminate pain, heal wounds, become faster, and stronger..she rarely uses jutsu unless she needs to. She also has skills like Black Art: Living Nightmare, at her disposal while in this form. Unfortunatly she doesn't really acknowlage, though she recognizes, friend from foe in this state and will take out anyone who stands in her way.

**Doton: Dochū Senkō- ** Earth Release: Underground Submarine Voyage- After sinking underground by turning it into fluid, the user can close in on the enemy with high speed, by swimming underground. Since being under the ground is a blind spot, the target has no warning; allowing the user to launch a surprise attack. By using this technique in conjunction with a weapon, it also gains great effect as an "assault ninjutsu".Kisame combines this with Samehada, allowing it to protrude from the ground, like a shark's dorsal fin.

**Hakke Kūshō- **Eight Trigrams Empty Palm- This technique is similar in practice to Eight Trigrams Palms Revolving Heaven, but has a specific target rather than a general area. To perform it, the user precisely pinpoints the enemy's vital points with the Byakugan and releases a high-speed palm thrust. A "vacuum shell" compressed using the Gentle Fist is formed to attack the opponent's vitals from a distance, blowing them off their feet with tremendous force before they even notice they were hit.

**Katon: Hōsenka no Jutsu** Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique- This technique creates a volley of small fireballs, which are sent flying in an unpredictable manner assaulting the enemy. In addition, the flames are controlled one by one with chakra, so avoiding them all is extremely difficult. Shuriken can also be concealed within the flames, creating an unexpected secondary surprise attack. Like the flames, the shuriken can be controlled with chakra. For the most part, however, this technique is used as a distraction.

**Samehada- **Shark Skin- The most terrifying of the seven blades, it has the appearance of a giant knife covered in shark scales. It is a sentient, living weapon and has the ability to "eat" chakra. It is also called a "Greatsword" Samehada is unique for being a sentient weapon that gains nourishment from the chakra of others. The blade is happiest when engorged with chakra. As a sentient weapon, Samehada chooses its user. If someone it disapproves of tries to wield it, spikes protrude from the handle, forcing them to release it, and Samehada returns to its chosen owner.

**Impression Black Art: Living Nightmare- **Kori uses this to phycologically attack the victim using thier worst fears against them.

**Kusanagi no Tsurugi- **Grass Cutting Sword- Sasuke Uchiha claimed that the chokutō he wields is a Sword of Kusanagi; it has a black scabbard and matching handle, and is a larger size than a normal chokutō. Despite this, it has none of the specialties as the one Orochimaru wields, such as extension of the blade and the ability to cut through almost anything, both of which are natural attributes of the Kusanagi. To compensate for this, Sasuke can channel his lightning chakra into the blade with chakra flow, which will increase its sharpness greatly through high frequency vibrations, as well as increasing its cutting range. This would allow Sasuke to cut through almost anything, as well as numb the target who has been pierced by this lightning blade.

**Chidori Eisō- **One Thousand Birds Sharp Spear**- **The original Chidori gained its power by shaping it into a form sufficient for an electrical discharge and using it together with the user's own "thrust". This technique uses Shape Transformation to form the original Chidori into a spear/blade-shape, adapting it for mid-range attacks with a maximum range of 10 meters. Although it's less powerful than the Chidori, its increased range means there is less of a risk to the user. It also has the advantage of being able to be used for surprise attacks and capturing. When the enemy's body is pierced, the user can alter the spear's shape into multiple additional blades, increasing the number of wounds. The blade can also be swung in order to cut things as well as cause fatal injuries.

**Kage Nui no Jutsu- **Shadow Sewing Technique- The user changes the shape of their shadow into several sharp needles and controls each separately. They can then attack several targets simultaneously and at the same time snatch away their ability to move by sewing them stuck with the shadow threads. Because it is a physical attack, it is impossible to capture someone without harming them, but on the other hand, since the speed of invocation and the time of duration are excellent, it can be used when urgent restraint is required.

* * *

**Alpenwolf: **I am glad you like the name, yep I am in 'higher learning' now lol. Hmm, I am glad that my description of Kori's black form got that reaction from you.

**gunitatsuhiko: **Oh then I must correct myself. New reviewer. *blushes* I feel so happy right now. Thanks. As for the I-pod...well I wouldn't know anything about that...I use a normal computer. Yes, she snapped...all her bad experiances all rolled into one bitch fit. Watch out Madara, she may be capable of eating your face off.

**Sukaretto Miyuki**: Well if you click the page itself and use your arrow keys, which is how I read now a days (and if you haven't figured it out already) it should help. Sorry for the unusual feelings but I have written everyone's names in the English form and it would just be wierd to place yours as is, in the Japanesse way of saying your name. Oh that was a butchered staticed version of 'Kori, it is Yuki. I need you to come, I have Sasuke's older brother Itachi' but I didn't want the message to be clear so I guess i did well on that. I was planning on Starke on staying...right now he is just 'sleeping' back in tattoo form on Kori. Starke was created from the Living Ink style of Kori's normal jutsu...he is a part of her chakra but he also has his own intelligence, since Kori wanted him to be life like. I mashed up Summoning Jutsu with the attack version of Sai's Ink Summons, though Starke lasts longer. Starke just has communication by touch and he can fly sorta. Sinc he is made from ink he doesn't have to run on all fours and literally moves like a spirit you would see in Native American ledgeneds. As for your characters age, she is a young adult in her early twenties (21-22) she is just really mature for her age. No Itachi doesn't die...he just gets knocked out with her red/green mix of the living death as I call it. If you want to know what it is made out of...before I look it up and tell you guys, the new Sherlock Holmes move starring Robert Downy Jr. has the same mixure in it...what Ravenholt used to make it seemed like he died. Sorry about the cliffie, there was just too much that I wanted to do with the fight scene and the aftershock of it to write into the last chapter. -snort- Well maybe I will, maybe I won't. You will have to see.

* * *

**River: **More bad news...T.T my laptop crashed...I am using another computer but my cousin is kinda hogging it with Minecraft and other games...and I am more comfortable using my laptop...Hopefully I can get it fixed today...if not...crap. So yeah...Sorry for the errors in this chapter...I will fix them when I get my laptop up and running.

Okay Neji is now more open in his affections...Itachi and Sasuke are more friendly...and living together when Itachi isn't doing missions for the Akatsuki. Kori is a permanent member of Taka...Sai has joined Yuki's group...and things seem to be going generally well...psht with the way I write it won't last long.


	30. Chapter 30: Cages

A/N: I am at your mercy...forgive me. What I thought was a simple crash was a viral corrupt "anti-virus software", which I knew was a scam (check 2-viruses for the malicious software list to help protect your computer and not fall victim to it like I did. There is a list and a couple ways to fix said problem), I just didn't know the severity of it. Well it fucked up my computer and I have been working to fix it(3 days 2 hours to be exact)..My updates should be able to be as 'on time' as they can be with my schedule. Right now I am running around getting school supplies so...yeah. I make due. On another note, I am going under the assumption that everyone who died is now alive and will be alive until I deem they die...The 'baddies' are fair game as far as I am concerned atm...but if there is a rise to kill off someone due to story progression (Jiraiya, Asuma, Nagato...Akatsuki..those peeps) I will rip them from your lives as painful as possible (and enjoy it in a sick, twisted manner that writers constantly do to us)...-evil laugh-. Now that I have your attention and put you on the edge of your seat...On with the chappy.

* * *

Additional notes: There is a lot of thought here so I will give you a 'format'

_Person thinking, depending on POV_

_:Sasuke's thoughts:_

_Starke_

_**Yuki or Kori, depening on POV**_

_**Other, person will be specified.**_

* * *

**Kori's POV**

"So let me get this straight," said Naruto, "You and your sis came out of nowhere with knowledge of our futures and became ninja to protect us?"

"In a nut shell, yes," I said finishing my sesame chicken, "Now...there are a couple things I need you to do specifically, the rest will be covered by us. First off, Madara is using jinchuriki to power a jutsu that he will enslave the world with...the process of collecting the tailed beasts kill the jinchuriki so at all costs we need to protect you. A few of you we have had contact with but most of you, we haven't. Right now Itachi is working against the Akastuki to make sure that doesn't happen, but if he is ever on duty and you meet him, try and kill him. We need to keep appearances. Sasuke is my team leader and we are going to track down the others and try and keep them safe, but since telling them 'come with us or die' doesn't seem very friendly and about ninty percent of you hate people..This will be difficult. _YOUR _job is to take up your sensei's mantle and learn the ways of the Sage. The second thing we will work on when we come to it. This you kinda owe us...with the help of Itachi, and Yuki and I, all Pein's info is already at our disposal and we saved his life, Jiraiya that is."

"How?" asked Sakura.

"In one time, Jiraiya went to Ame to find info about Pein, there he found his death. This will destroy Naruto but he will become more adamant to stop the 'baddies'. Normally, I show you what your former future will hold if it benefits you...but in Naruto's case...it is better left unseen," I answered.

"Why?" asked Naruto.

"Because there are good things that come from it...Now I can't promise you Toad Perv will be around forever, learning Sage jutsu will help you be better at protecting things you love. A storm is coming and we need all the power we can get," I said looking down, "There were so many bad things...I belive that it will be hard, but if we work together we can stop it."

"So you are going around soliciting with known _wanted_ criminals," said Sakura.

"If it gets the job done I will personally offer to be Madara's bitch for the rest of my life. You do not know the horror," I said biting my lip, "However we have five extra strong as hell shinobi to help us. _Your _enemy pinky isn't mine. I do not think that imprisioning Jugo or Suigetsu or killing Itachi or Kisame would be healthy for any of us. As far as I figure it...we have a few months to get our shit together."

"Does Tsunade know about this?" she asked.

"Tsunade was informed the day after I ran into Sasuke. By chance we raided one of Orochimaru's hideouts and my special talent helped me escape and appeal to Sasuke when he was still dark...well I don't exactly know how to phrase it but...anyway. Tsunade has given me special permission, even promoted me, so that I can work with Sasuke. Other than her, Neji, you two, Shikamaru, and Yuki and I, no one knows Sasuke's whereabouts or if he is still alive," I smiled.

"What sort of special gift do you have that we don't?" asked Sakura, "Many clans in Konoha can do the impossible."

"The improbable," I corrected, "With simple research I am sure I could create a psudo-jutsu of the clans...Simple anatomy tells me where the Chakra paths are, I can't see them, but that doesn't mean I can't cut them off. My 'record' ability allows me one time use of jutsus I see in memories..knocking down the Sharringan..note that is only the most basic form of the Sharringan. I have created a wolf out of ink that can sniff out enemies and collaborate with me. The chains I make are similar to the Shadow jutsu of the Nara clan...I will never do insects...ever...I can read minds, though they do possession, and communicate telepathically like Ino's family...and the list goes on."

"You think to much," mused Suigetsu.

"Hm, maybe," I said, "I have studied your techs for a while..about three plus years is as far as my own memories go on when I fist saw you guys...and that was prior to arriving in the Land of Fire."

**No POV**

As they conversed over dessert, none of them saw the shadow that was hidden in the ceiling of the room they occupied. No one could sense the malice that watched them, and none were the wiser when it left. The spy made his way back to his master to give his report. He had been watching these people for quite a while now, but he was too sneaky, too good to be detected. He knew how to manipulate things to make him go unnoticed. He informed his master about the plans of the would-be heroes.

"Now this is a problem," said a dark voice, "I suppose it is time for me to move up my plans. I need to make a visit to an old friend."

As quickly as he arrived, the spy left and his master began to make his way out to Konoha. When he arrived it was night..It was simple to avoid the ANBU, they were fools anyway. Quietly he made his way to where the person in question could be found. When he arrived to deliver the news, his old friend was cautious, but more than willing to listen...

**Kori POV**

"So you think you are up for it?" I asked Naruto.

"I guess," said Naruto.

"We will work on clearing out Konoha due to an attack I hope to avoid. Talk to your Perv, Taka has some buisness to take care of," I said, finishing cleaning up, "Yuki will give the instructions to her and thank god she has been patient enough to allow us to do something like this. Within two weeks or so, Konoha should be cleared out and we should be in the clear."

"What happens to Konoha?" asked Sakura.

"In short, destruction. Someone comes along and pretty much turns Konoha into a crater. Now the people we are moving out, their stuff...not so much. The people will be replaced by shadow clones..so only a handful of teams are staying behind to make sure it goes off without a hitch," I said, sighing, "Look you two...stay here for the night. Tomorrow is when we start."

Yuki and I left a few hours later, and headed home. We then decided to have some tea before bed, and were interrupted by Sai appearing in our living room.

"You are to come with me," he said scroll already in hand.

"Er, Sai?" asked Yuki, "It is ten at night. Can't it wait?"

"No," he simply said.

_There is something wrong._

_What Starke..._

_'Listen' to him._

_Alright._

I reached out with my senses and I tried to touch Sai's mind. I couldn't hear him, and that set off my alarms.

_Starke warn Sasuke and the others._

I jumped up and used my various 'sparkler' tattoos to cause a distraction while I released Starke. Yuki jumped up and grabbed me.

"What is wrong?" she gasped.

"RUN!" I shrieked as I turned and latched onto her wrist.

We ran straight for our window and jumped out. As we hit the ground and were nearly instantly pinned down by ANBU, and if I knew anything I could guess these people were Root. I went to get free but was knocked out.

**No POV**

Starke traveled as swiftly as he could, and easily out ran those after his new charges. He arrived at the Hideout and quickly ran into the main hall. There he found Itachi, and padded over to the shinobi. Itachi saw Starke and had a puzzled look on his face. Calmly moving over to the wolf he placed his hand on Starke.

_The girls are captured. Danzo found out...I am to warn you to clear out. Have Sakura take Naruto out of Konoha. They don't know what happened. Sasuke and the others need to go with you and leave._

**Alright, come with me.**

Itachi lead Starke to where the others were. Naruto and Sakura were beside Sasuke bombarding him with questions, and honestly Sasuke looked annoyed. Itachi couldn't help but smile as he saw how much his friends cared about him, but now wasn't the time for it. He cleared his throat loudly.

"Naruto, I need you to go with Sakura and leave immediately," said Itachi.

"We just got here!" complained Naruto.

"And normally that wouldn't be a problem. Kori and Yuki have been captured by someone. Starke didn't specify, but I can guess who did it. There is a high chance the are searching Konoha for the rest of us. If either Kisame or myself are captured, it will be likely we will be killed, and Sasuke and his team probably will not fair better," said Itachi, "Take Starke here with you. He has a connection with Kori and will help you along the way."

Sasuke looked blank but his eyes hardened, "Let them come."

"Little brother," said Itachi, "We promised not to do anything until Danzo makes himself open. I owe those girls that much."

Sasuke swallowed hard, "Alright. Jugo, Suigetsu. Come on."

Jugo and Suigetsu who were previously sparring, quickly stopped and appeared by Sasuke's side. Starke padded over and brushed against Sasuke. Kneeling down, Sasuke pet the wolf.

_Run. An old hideout. Those were flashes of things she could think of. Not all of them would be known, so those places would be safe. It is probable that Danzo will scour the area for you. Take the safest, most hidden route. I am going with Naruto. There aren't many who know about me, and Naruto is in danger as well. We need to be swift._

_:I know just the place. We will leave immediately:_

_Alright, now I must fix the mess Kori has made._

_:-chuckle- When can we expect her?:_

_I cannot say. I don't even have an idea if they made it out of Konoha. I was released in the flat. If I hear from her then I will send on any messages. This will hurt, but it will connect me to you. Unfortunately I have to bite you and taste you. With your blood I can always find you._

_:Alright.:_

Sasuke held out his hand and Starke nipped it. Blood was quickly drawn and lapped up. Naruto looked under distress, witnessing a wolf bite his best friend. Sasuke just held up his free hand.

"Don't worry. This is Starke," he said, "I will be away for a while. This is just so Starke can always find me. Right now it is dangerous for Starke to know where we are. If he knows, the connection he has with Kori will allow her to know. If they torture her or attempt to retrive information, there is a good chance it will slip."

"Lets go, now!" growled Itachi, "We are wasting time."

Starke nodded, and padded over to Naruto, brushing his head against the shinobi's hand.

_Naruto. I am Starke, creation of Kori. I will be your temporary guardian until we can get you to a safe place. Follow me...if there is a way to get a message to Jiriaya, while we move it would be wise to do so._

Naruto jumped back, startled, "It talks!"

Starke rolled his eyes and gripped the Kyuubi jinchuriki's pants in his mouth, tugging towards the nearest exit. Sasuke laughed at his friends thickheadedness before departing with the remainder of Taka. They all parted their separate ways and when ANBU finally arrived at the Hideout, there was nothing indicating anyone had been living there for years, let alone a few months.

**Kori's POV**

I was very groggy when a bucket of ice water was splashed on me. I could feel I was chained down but my eyes were covered. I could smell death in this place, and it unnerved me. I tried hearing for anything, but it was just my luck to have been separated from Yuki. She always snored lightly when she was asleep and I couldn't even hear her breathing, so Danzo was smart. Though I couldn't figure out why we were here. I calmly tried to cut off my sense of feeling in my limbs to keep my body from going into shock due to bucket of cold ass water, coupled with the apparent draft in this room.

"So what do we have here?" asked a familiar voice.

"Questioning," said another voice, curtly.

"I know that, but why is Kori being questioned?" asked who I could hear was Ino's father.

"There was an attempt on Tsunade's life. She is in critical condition. Her and her sister have been up to suspicious activities. That is all I know," said the other, now handing me off.

I tried to speak but I found my voice had been taken away from me. Whatever they did to me while I was asleep kept me from talking. I mentally cursed as I thought of everything that could have been done to me while I was out. Hopefully no one could take away my mental defenses, or my ability to communicate telepathically. I tried reaching out to Inochi but when I did a massive pain shot through my head and I could feel the sting in my toes. Cursing a second time, I bit my lip. I then realized I was very tired...I knew I couldn't walk on my own.

"Why are there Fūinjutsu markings?" asked Inochi.

"We were told she was dangerous and precautions were taken," said the voice.

"You will kill her before we can even get started on interrogation," said Inochi in alarm.

"Chakra Draining Seal, and a few others," replied the other shinobi.

"Danzo's work?" asked Inochi.

"Yes, but about the interrogation. I am escorting her to Ibiki," said the other.

"I can take her to him myself," said Inochi.

"I was under specific orders," started the shinobi.

"I am a higher officer," said Inochi cutting off the shinobi.

"Fine, just make sure she gets there," scoffed the shinobi, "I have an investigation to do anyway."

When I heard the shinobi leave, Inochi ripped off the blindfold, "Why are you here?"

I tried blinking to communicate but I didn't know anything about Morse Code. So giving that up I just looked at him rolling my eyes.

"The sealing jutsu must prevent you from speaking," said Inochi, "Well this poses a problem. Interrogation will not go well."

I sighed as he escorted me into the Interrogation room. He just allowed me to sit down somewhere as I pretty much collapsed, weakened from having my chakra sealed away. Ibiki walked in and eyed me. Sighing, he shook his head.

"Please tell me she isn't attempting to join the Tourture and Interrogation Force," he said looking slightly alarmed.

"No, she is a suspect with an attack that happened on Tsunade," said Inochi, "However all her chakra was drained and she has three different seals on her. It would seem she can't talk, and she barely has any energy to move."

"So?" asked Ibiki.

"Well it poses a problem if she dies," said Inochi, "If she has information, Danzo didn't want her to tell anyone about it."

My mind still couldn't wrap around the fact Tsunade was attacked. The top three people who came to mind couldn't do it? Danzo wasn't that stupid, Madara wasn't that brave, and Pein wasn't here. If they weren't around then who could have? I tried to make a list of people but exhaustion took over me and I passed out again.

**Yuki's POV**

I couldn't talk or move. This was a problem. I was a little worried that Kori was't around, between us there wasn't anything we couldn't do. I heard something about Tsunade, Danzo, and Sasuke but not enough for anything to make sense. Apparently when we were at the Hideout, Tsunade was posioned by someone. They didn't know how the attacker could have gotten to her, though I could make sense why they thought it was us...we were close to Tsunade. Over the last month, we practically lived at the Hokage's Office. Already, we had began having people begin to evacuate. We just wanted to make sure they had enough to settle buisness before they left. We also had tracked down four locations of jinchuriki, other than Killer B, Naruto, and Gaara.

Overhearing, due to my ability to magnify sound now. It was hard and I could only keep it up for five minutes at a time before I couldn't use it due to the strain on my ears. The voices were down the hall, and I heard the mention of Kori. Apparently she was far worse than I was, Danzo had already drained her chakra away, for what I didn't know. Apparently in a few hours we would see the Konoha Council to judge us. I knew that couldn't happen, Danzo would use his charisma to sentence us to death, or worse. Breaking out was our top priority.

**No POV**

"How long?" whined Naruto.

Starke stopped and turned to Naruto. Touching his hand Starke relayed his thoughts.

_We stop here. Have you already sent the message to the Sage?_

"Yeah, last time we stopped I summoned Gamabunta. He should send on the message," said Naruto.

_Very well. We shall wait here until he arrives. Find shelter and stay hidden. I will hunt for intruders. Stay safe pup._

"I will take on anyone who tries to stand in my way," said Naruto.

_If you have a death wish. We do not know who all is after you. The main concerns are the Akatsuki and Danzo himself. If given the chance Danzo may manipulate Konoha to treat you as a threat. Be wary of anyone who comes. If I do not recognize a scent I will attack so if your master shows up, warn him of so. I do not know his scent._

"He smells like ink, around the hands, and probably blood due to his pevy nature," said Naruto, "He gets beat up often by women."

_The scent of woman on a man...that isn't unusual._

Their break was cut short when Naruto disappeared. Starke went on high alert. Taking a very aggressive position, eyes darting around. A few seconds later, Starke found himself at a very odd place that reeked of toads and oil. There he saw a familiar image, given to him by Kori. The face he recognized as Jiraiya. He backed down and sat on his haunches, tail curling up to his side as he kept his imposing look, but he didn't want to scare any one. Though he thought about chasing down one of the many funny looking toads, wondering if they would squeak when he bit them. Thinking against it, he approched the Toad Sage and brushed against him.

_Jiraiya. I am Starke, creation of Kori. Naruto is in danger and needs your help if he is to defend against the evil that is attempting to take over the world. It is the wish of my ...Kori that you teach Naruto the ways of the Sage. Keep Sakura here to, her life may be in danger. Kori has been captured in Konoha and I do not know what damage her actions have caused. I am here as a guardian of Naruto, but now that he is in your care, I need you to stay with him. My duty now falls with you. I must warn the others who are in danger and protect them._

"I understand," said Jiraiya, "Though I must see to my friend. There is rumor that Kori attacked Tsunade and poisoned her. With recent events, I have to take care of my friends."

_Do what you must but do not investigate. Your life is in grave danger and you will be target to those we are trying to stop. If I could give you more information, I would, but Kori knows that revealing things is dangerous. However, I will answer any questions you may have of my creator and recent events._

There, Jiraiya spoke with Starke to straighten things out while he made a plan to keep Naruto safe. When he thought he had all the information needed, Jiraiya turned to Fukasaku.

"I need to ask a favor of you," he told the old toad,"Come with me."

"What is is Jiraiya boy?" asked Fukasaku as he followed Jiraiya.

Afte a few minutes the old toad bowed his head and hoped to Naruto while Jiraiya made his leave. Naruto questioned it and Fukasaku just shook his head.

"We have a long road ahead of us," said Fukasaku, "We should get started. Miss Haruno, would you be so kind to help my wife make lunch?"

Sakura looked confused,"O-okay."

Sakura left Fukasaku and Naruto to do whatever they needed to do.

**Yuki's POV**

I heard footsteps heading toward my cell, or wherever I was. I stopped using chakra and turned off my ability. A loud creak of an old lock snapped, telling me I was in a jail like room. Perhaps in a detainment part of Konoha, but there were many places prisoners could be kept, so that didn't give me much of a clue. Thankfully with all that was going on, not many were paying attention to me, and that allowed me to do certain things under the immediate radar. My arms were bound so that I could not preform hand seals, hands clasped around my elbows and tightly bound. I had a blindfold and a gag on and was roughly picked up and escorted to another room. I carefully counted the steps, and one shinobi noticed, making them pick me up and carry me over thier shoulder. To make matters worse they kept their steps uneven so it would be impossible for me to accurately keep track of the distance between things.

I was brought to a room and the blindfold was taken off. Inochi and who I recognized as Ibiki were there, also in the corner was Kori. I tried to struggle against the grip of the shinobi who held my arms.

"It would seem she is in better condition," said Inochi.

"Set her up," said Ibiki before walking over to me, "I wil take this one."

"No I was informed to get the sister," said the ANBU, "No questions."

"Did they finally find out who did it?" asked Inochi.

"I am not here to answer questions. I am just here to get them," said the ANBU again,"Danzo wants to question them."

"MFFT," I tried saying through the gag.

"Taking our jobs away?"Ibiki said callously, "We don't go outside protocol. Friend, foe, whatever. Questioning is my department."

"Then you will answer to Danzo," said the ANBU.

"Danzo may influence the Council but he is not Hokage. Tsunade is," said Ibiki, "Now unless there is something that has changed in the last four minutes. GET OUT."

I couldn't help but feel a burden lift off my shoulders. I know Ibiki would be rough but I would have a chance to explain everything. If we had of went with the ANBU our lives would have been toast. Ibiki escorted me to a chair and sat me down, carefully he took the gag off and handed me a glass of water.

"It doesn't help us if the victim can't speak," said Ibiki,"Here."

I drank a half of glass before I hoarsely said, "Thank you. We aren't who you want."

"Do you have evidence to prove your innocence?" asked Ibiki.

"No," I said hanging my head, "Do what you want. You won't find anything about us going near Tsunade last night. I request Inochi to preform the interrogation."

"We shall see," said Inochi, "If you are going to co-operate with us."

"You just saved my life," I grimaced, "Danzo is up to no good."

They decided to ask me questions, and I answered them truthfully. Ibiki even made sure that there wouldn't be anyone who bothered us. Thankfully all his questions were about what I had been up to the last night. I didn't lie. I told him I was on a mission given to me by Tsunade and I ate with my sister and didn't get back until late at night. The guards at the gate even gave us an alibi because we stopped by and checked in. Though the person accusing us, if it wasn't blatantly obvious, said that those were shadow clones while we tried to assassinate Tsunade. Shizune informed Inochi and Ibiki that neither of us were spotted in the offices that day, nor did any of the sensory nin detect us.

Though we were good, Kori was pretty much a spotlight in an empty field when it came to hiding her chakra, if she wasn't concentrating, but I wasn't telling them that. When they were finished interrogating me verbally Inochi decided to try and talk to me while they compiled the evidence against my word.

**Why are you really here?  
**

_Well, we are trying to prevent something bad. I can't tell you but...I promise Danzo is behind this. We don't know how he knows what we are up to but he has been informed. I promise you the attack was all him. He wanted us out of the way because we are going to stop him from taking over Konoha. I can't recal memories like Kori, but look through my mind, you will see what he has been up to. Just try and not react to a lot of the unusual bits._

Inochi looked through my head. When he believed he was satisfied, he exited. It wasn't painful or anything, though I was dizzy as hell.

"Wooooah," I said, "Look through Kori."

"Sealing jutsu," said Inochi, "Without knowing what is the jutsu is, we could kill her. She also had all her chakra drained, I won't be suprised if she doesn't wake up for a few days."

Before we could go any farther, a group of ANBU burst in, "Tsunade is missing!"

"What?" asked all three of us.

"She disappeared from her hospital room along with Jiraiya, Shizune, and Tonton," said the eagle masked ANBU.

"That does change things," said Ibiki, "Inochi."

"Right," said Inochi, "I will find Shikaku."

Ibiki turned around and looked at me, "Does she know anything about this?"

"She has given me evidence to believe there is someone else behind this," said Inochi.

"Follow me gentlemen," said Ibiki.

"What about those two?" asked the fox mask.

"Where are they going to go. My entire team is here," said Ibiki, "If they do escape I would commend them. There really hasn't been anyone in years to break out of this place."

I couldn't help but smile. I doubt we would break that tradition, but it seemed like we weren't going to just walk out the front door either. Ibiki left us in Inochi's care while he escorted the ANBU to fill him on the details of Tsunade's disappearance. When the door closed Inochi looked at me.

"Get your sister," said Inochi, "We are going to see Shikakau."

I grabbed Kori and followed Inochi. He lead us to a room and gave us cloaks and masks to wear. I roused Kori up enough that she could walk. I kept her close as Inochi took us to a secret entrace and gave us intructions to get out. After he contacted Shikaku to meet us. When we made it out, Shikaku took us to the Nara forest. There he had us escorted in by Shikamaru. While Shikamaru escorted us he was cautious.

"Look I know you two wouldn't do anything to Konoha, but the rumors running around are quite serious. Danzo has been working with the Council to decide what to do with you, but with Tsunade's disappearance...Danzo has elected himself as Kage," said Shikamaru.

Kori smiled and looked like she was laughing but she nearly lost conciousness again.

"Easy girl," I said, "Do you know where we can find someone skilled in Juinjutsu?"

"Not really, but I am sure someone may know," said Shikamaru, "Look once you are out of Konoha, it is safer not to come back. Perhaps Suna would be where to go."

"Yeah, we need to pick up Gaara anyway," I told him, "Sorry we gotta part. Just keep us posted about what is going down here."

"Will do," he said before kissing me, "I will also inform Neji. If he doesn't already know you two are safe."

Kori struggled to get to him and she wrapped her arms around him and cried smiling. Shikamaru took it as a good thing. He just patted her on the head.

"You are welcome," he smiled.

I hugged him one last time before I escaped with Kori to head straight for Suna. Hopefully Gaara would remember us and help. Though I don't know if he would, there would be no telling what Danzo would do if he got the seat of Hokage.

* * *

**Juinjutsu** (呪印術; Literally meaning "Cursed Seal Techniques") are a type of jutsu used to bring someone under the control of the user. By applying a seal to the victim's body, the user brings the victim's abilities and actions under his/her control. With a simple secret hand seal, the user can inflict great mental and physical torment on the victim. The exact workings of juinjutsu are kept secret.

**Chakra Draining Seal- **The user places a seal on a person that will drain the latter's chakra, so that the user can use it himself

**Danz****ō's Juinjutsu**This Cursed Seal is given to all members of the ANBU subgroup Root by Danzō Shimura, to ensure no information about Danzō or the organisation falls into the wrong hands. After Danzō died, the seals disappeared from all the Root the wearer of this Cursed Seal speaks about anything incriminating related to Danzō or Root, their entire body will be paralysed, taking away their ability to speak or move. It is applied to the tongue and takes the shape of three solid lines and two broken lines from the back of the tongue to the seal can also applied during combat, and can secretly be placed on the opponent's body. When the user wishes it, the curse seal's marks spread around the opponent's body, paralysing them. However, one can break free from the seal with a strong enough release of chakra.

**Sound Magnification: **Yuki has the ability to magnify the sound around her by pulsating her chakra outward. The sound is weaved in her Chakra, bounced off the nearest surface, magnified and carried back to her. She focuses on her ears to hear sounds from far off distances. However she becomes sensitive to certain loud noises and can't keep up the jutsu very long before the strain on her ears causes them some damage. She can filter certain sounds out with a barrier of chakra, so that if a sound is above a certain decible it is muffled to not cause her hearing damage. Whispers of people become normal speaking, steps from a few yards away sound like they are outside the door, and other things are amplified like so.

**Sound Amplification: **Similar in Sound Magnification, Yuki weaves chakra into sounds. However this is used for attacks. She can clap her hands, coated in chakra and amplify the sound to produce a large concousion wave to disable and damage her enemies. Steps, voices, and other sounds can be amplified to produce certain effects. To paralyze her opponents a high pitched sound is needed, to shatter glass she can just amplify her voice, and to shatter stone a thump caused by footstepps can be used.

**Naruto's Sage Training:** I am not going to actually talk about it much. Most of you would know what went down with his training, but I will touch on the major parts of it.

* * *

**Alpenwolf: **Thanks..I am glad you liked it. As for Kori and romantic affections. Some people do, some don't. She doesn't, remember she is really shy deep down and this is one way she is shy. Yeah I figured this fic could use a laugh, too much heavy...

**Sukaretto Miyuki: **Good for you. I own a guitar but I can't play many songs on it. My hand is double jointed and my pinky wants to slip out of place when I play so I gotta learn how to play with three fingers...and it is difficult. Well Kori was talking to Itachi...she was reffering to his willingness to save Sasuke. Er, Kori told him her name...silly. Yes, Tsunade knows but she didn't want Naruto or Sakura yelling in her office or causing a scene. Irony...I love using it. Yes I told you I was using an unfamilar laptop and I apologized for the mistakes, that was one of them apparently. I made the corrections in this chappy. Yes...Starke could be considered a cell phone.

**ThorLuvR: **Lol. I told you being a reader has its rewards. I DO listen to what my readers say and I improve my work based off that. I would be a total bitch if I didn't. You are taking time out of your day to read my work and actually saying it is good, which in turns makes me write more...so if I didn't listen to any advice then I would be a shitty person. Erm...Th-that mental...oh god...I like that image...No bad reader bad! Don't help me draw Yaoi...you are just here to read...damnit ...I will have to draw that, but I will have to find a replacement for Kori for it to be full Yaoi...hmm. I will draw one of each...-evil snicker- you my friend unleashed a beast...Kori in her Black Art form is and isn't, her power would be like Sora (Sora's Jinchūriki Forms). Though she doesn't have cells or chakra of the Nine Tails, she is really strong and fast and can regen up to a point, but if you rip an arm off she can't regen that. She also doesn't have the Tailed Beast Bomb, or any of the other powers of the Tailed Beasts or other jinchuriki. Hers was spawned from the 'rebound' emotions from people and she does have a TON of chakra. Not as much as Naruto but probably as much as Tsunade...since her body has been through hell and came back stronger than ever. Since Kori has the ability to store chakra in her body much like Tsunade, she can pretty much tatto her body with nothing but chakra storage to pull of some major shit. (OOOH INSPARATION!)

**gunitatshuiko: **-bows- Thank you, thank you. Alright and I feel like a bitch for bringing them together only to rip them apart...but it is for story progression have mercy...Lol...well I had to think of 'what would sound like Naruto in this situation...it has to be silly but smart-ish' and BOOM that line was born.

**shinoluver23: **Welcome, welcome! I reply to my readers, if you didn't catch that. All questions are answered at the end of the chappy so if you feel confused or want to voice an opionon...like or dislike tell me. I will improve my work based on what you say. All my readers get some 'goodies' if they continue reading and especially if they reply that way I know who they are and make a more specific present for them. Don't think I am bribing you..oh no no. I am rewarding you for making my story a success...'nuff said. Without readers, a writer is shite. It doesn't matter if it is the best thing in the world, no one will know unless someone picks it up and reads.**  
**


	31. Chapter 31:Plans For the Future

**Yuki's POV**

The quickest path would be through the Valley of the End, through the land of rivers, that much I knew. If I needed to however, I could hide in Ame, but that was the last 'no other choice' option. I ran as fast as I could, pretty sure that I was being trailed. Running for three days straight didn't appeal to me, but I had no choice...

**No POV**

Neji and Shikamaru found themselves at the familiar flat. They were there by chance and now it would seem that they should be glad they were. People they didn't recognize were trashing Yuki and Kori's home. Thankful for being able to pull rank on most of them, Neji sighed as he looked over the mess. Fond memories of pictures now littered the floor broken, paintings were smashed, clothes were strewn everywhere, beds shredded, and everywhere that they could have hidden something was checked. Both of them just so happened to look at the same picture in the middle of the floor. It was from the Summer Festival, Kori beaming holding a sparkler in each hand hugged around Neji's neck, who was eying the sparklers, Yuki was looking up smiling at Shikamaru, whom she just plastered cup cake icing in the middle of his face. They cleaned up the glass off the photo and smiled. Both having fond memories.

"That stained my nose for two weeks," mused Shikamaru,"Though Kori helped me pay her back. We chased her down and smashed her face into a pie. Though the only complaint was the utter waste of the good pie."

"She did catch my hair on fire," said Neji, finding a spot on the couch to sit, "I smelled like burning hair for hours. Though in the midst of apologizing she fell in the river. She only got up laughing and chased me down for a hug."

"This place will be such a drag," sighed Shikamaru.

"We will miss them," said Neji, "But with the new law that has been passed."

**-Flashback-**

"Give me the microphone," said Danzo.

His assistant passed him the microphone and he turned the sound system on. Danzo cleared his throat before speaking into the device.

"This is Danzo, your newly appointed Hokage. It is with a heavy heart that I must replace Tsunade, she was an admirable woman. However she was attacked recently and placed in the hospital. I would have wished her good health but it would seem that she has been kidnapped by two former allies of Konoha. It is unknown if she still lives, but since we can not allow this great village and nation to fall to chaos, I was graciously appointed your new Hokage. The former chunin and teacher Yuki and her sister former jonin are to be killed on sight for the heavy crimes that they have committed against Konoha. They will not find any allies here to aid them in their evil plot. Anyone who has been found harboring the fugitives, or aiding them in any way shall be punished severely," he grinned, "They will not escape their fate by trying to kill the former and beloved Godaime and forcing her against her will to leave us. Thier other crimes are harboring fugitives of the state and co-operating with the enemy giving vital secrets away. Such fugitives are Sasuke Uchiha and company along with the infamous Itach Uchiha of the Akatsuki and his partner Kisame Hoshigaki. They also conspired to clear out Konoha to give it to an unnamed enemy, and with it, giving the residence to the threat. I have recended the order to clear out your homes and I urge you to continue buisness as usual, these traitor will be dealt with. Teams will be sent to hunt them down. That is all."

A few people were shell shocked with the announcement to say the least. Shikamaru could only sit on his porch, thinking about his next move against his father. Shikaku could not lie and say that his son was completely focused with the shogi game that they were playing, but he could not blame him. Hinata couldn't believe what the new Hokage was saying, she refused to believe the lies. Hanabi and Hiashi were not convinced either, and neither was half the Hyuga Clan. As for Neji his training was interrupted as he leaned against a tree and felt his legs give out with the order. Lee, Ino, Tenten, Shino, Kiba, and the rest of Rookie Nine, who were present could not fathom that their friends were now highly wanted criminals. Konoha was now buzzing with rumors, truths, lies, and everyone was taking sides.

**-End Flashback-**

"Danzo has taken away their home," said Neji, "I have half a mind, more than actually, to leave."

"We can't, we have to make sure that everyone is safe," said Shikamaru, "As much as I want to agree with you...We can't."

There was a crack of glass in the room with them, both whipped around to find Hinata, Ino, Kiba, and the others there.

"So they are gone," said Ino.

"I wish I could lie," said Shikamaru,"but I showed them out early this morning. They should be long gone by now. They weren't in good shape. Kori looked worse than she did when she came back from the Haruko Incident. She was riddled with seals and could barely keep her eyes open. Don't believe anything that Danzo is saying."

"W-we can at least help clean up," said Hinata, before she moved to the side revealing Haruko herself, "L-look who offered to help."

"I can't say that I like them still but the new Hokage is lying through his teeth," said Haruko, "I saw them, well heard them enter their apartment last night before a fight broke out. I looked out my window and saw four people who I haven't seen before cart them off."

"What do we do?" said Lee, "Our senseis will follow the law, but I can't let harm come to those two wonderful flowers."

Neji felt his eye twitch, "Don't ever say that again. I don't know what we can do, except what Kori and Yuki planned. Evacuate the village, if they wanted this placed cleared, there has to be something going on. Knowing them, it is nasty."

**-Elsewhere- **

Team Taka, Itachi, and Kisame were already in an old hideout near Kusagakure, where they waited. Itachi knew that they would be better off separated, due to his infamy. He had to make sure that Sasuke would have a chance. Without word from the girls, he couldn't do anything yet.

He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, whoever was behind this either knew the girls or was very good at spying. He thought and looked at Kisame.

"Zetsu," he said, "How long has he been watching us?"

"I am not sure," said Kisame, "Samehada hasn't said anything to me."

"Whoa who is this Zetsu?" asked Suigetsu.

"A part of the Akatsuki and a good spy," said Itachi, "He was sent to gather information that is in our Bingo Books. I just didn't realize that he was sent to spy on us. This poses a problem..I couldn't tell you if Madara is behind it or Pein."

** Mount Myōboku**

"Concentrate!" yelled Fukasaku, "If you let the Nature Chakra take over you will be a frog for ever!"

"Ow," said Naruto after he was hit for the tenth time with the staff, "I am working on it."

Sakura was disturbed about what she had to cook, it was disgusting! Bugs? Whatever it was, she questioned if it was safe to eat. However, she kept her mouth shut and retrived Naruto and Fukasaku for lunch. Naruto looked like he had been beaten within an inch of his life, and was now glad she was here. She was about to give Fukasaku a piece of her mind but Naruto told her it was part of the training. She couldn't allow Naruto to get hurt if he was supposed to train and save Konoha, but after hearing the effects of drawing in too much Natrual Energy she begged Fukasaku to whack Naruto if he showed signs.

**Meanwhile**

Starke moved swiftly through the desert towards his destination. He would need rest soon but would not have to sleep for another few days. When he was a day's worth of foot travel, a down wind carried a feint scent. Starke stopped in his tracks and changed directions. Howling he made his way towards the girls.

_Kori...I am coming. Why are you here?..._

_..._

_Kori?_

_..._

**Yuki's POV**

I had been running for two days solid. I was tired. The sun was setting, but I had made it into the Land of Wind early in the morning. Hunter-nin could still be on my trail and I didn't have the cover of trees to elude them so I couldn't stop now. As the sun disappeared along the horizon I heard a howl.

_Starke! Oh my god am I glad to hear your howl.._

_What happened to her?_

_Sealing jutsu. She has been out cold ever since...get someone from Suna. I need help. I don't know if I can make the full trip._

_I will be back shortly. Anyone specific?_

_Gaara...he knows us. He should remember us from the Exams. I don't know how much he will help though but it is a shot._

_There is an oasis three kilometers east, rest there. The area should give you cover in the darkness._

_Thank...you._

I ran east and found myself at the oasis. I just dipped my head in the cool water as I drank. It wasn't the most healthy way to drink water but I was hot, tired, smelled, and it felt so good. When I needed air I came up. I then dragged Kori's body to nearby brush and waited on edge. What seemed like forever, I heard the howl. I didn't move but I concentrated, opening myself up to his link.

_I did not retrieve the Gaara you requested. Someone named...Temari. She was free and she has decided to give you aid. She will escort you to Suna, along with a small medical team to treat any injuries._

_I am in the brush...right of the funny tree.._

_I did not need to know that. I can smell you._

_What if a sandstorm hits?_

_I will be there...just sit still._

I let exhaustion take me and woke up in the morning in Suna. The familiar scent of Cinnamon was in the air. I smiled as I saw Gaara in the doorway looking at us. I rose up slowly and smiled at him.

"I owe you my ass, and Kori's," I said hoarsly.

"There is something you need to explain," said Gaara, "You have been placed in the Bingo Book. Which is a terrific achievement if you want an alternative to suicide. What did you do to Tsunade to make her so upset?"

"That isn't Tsunade. Danzo ordered an attack on her, pinned it on us, and we barely escaped. Apparently someone who knows more info on us than we'd like has dropped him a line. If I can guess, I am ninety-nine percent sure it was the work of Madara. We got careless, and they caught us off guard," I explained.

"Why?" asked Gaara.

"Well you should have received the scroll about your life being in danger. You don't know the half of it. Danzo is going to run Konoha into the ground if left in charge...as for you...We need to get you to safety. I know as Kaze, you owe the protection of your village but if you aren't here, they will not come. The Akatsuki are after you because of," I said.

"Being a jinchuriki, I was informed," stated Gaara, "I also received a letter from the new Kage from Konoha that stated if I was assisting you and did not turn you in that I would be declaring war on Konoha."

"That is so fucked," I sighed, "Tell Danzo to fuck himself."

"Your sister," said Gaara, "Temari said she was in bad condition."

"She had her chakra drained and three seals placed on her. I couldn't tell you what they are," I said, "I am not familiar with those techniques. Though I know how to break Danzo's. We need a large burst of chakra and Kori will be freed."

"There is the problem," said Gaara, "One of the seals prevent any of us helping her. Not even the med-nin were able to assist her. It would seem she is trapped in her own mind. I do not know if there is a seal to prevent chakra regeneration or not, but we will not know until she wakes up. One of our med-nin say she may not ever wake, but we don't have the skill here like you do in Konoha."

"Sakura," I mouthed, "Sakura! She is with Naruto. If we can get her here, maybe she can help but we don't know where she is."

"That helps," said Gaara sarcastically, "Our sealing team are working on undoing the seals. Tomorrow we shall know how much damage is done to her."

"Thank you," I said laying back down.

"Thank you," said Gaara, "You two helped me get over what people thought of me, and because of that my village respects me and loves me. It took time but.."

"Gaara," I laughed, "There is very little you can't do. Naruto should be thanked for your aversion of people, not us. We just were your first fan girls, or Kori was."

**Kori's POV**

I couldn't tell where I was. Last I remembered was hugging Shikamaru. It was very warm, so we weren't in Konoha, which had a mild climate. I was very tired still, but apparently I was safe. I heard a yawn nearby. I tried to raise up, to find myself weakened.

_Pup you are awake._

_Starke? Where the hell am I?_

_Suna. You are in the care of Gaara..he is currently debating on what to do with you. Many believe that giving you up to Danzo would be beneficial. Remember this village was once desperate, they may still be._

_ARG! Evil conflicting emotions! I want to help but I don't want to give up myself._

_Rest you need me?_

_No, if you try and sleep now, I may kill you._

_I wouldn't jump in if it save my fuzzy butt._

_Why did you get my sarcasm? Why? Anywho, HEY...I just noticed. I can talk to you._

_...seriously?_

_Er, find Sasuke and tell him to meet us at the Kanabi bridge. Do you know where Sakrua is?_

_You can not travel. It is dangerous outside these walls. You can barely keep your eyes is with Naruto who is on Mount My__ōboku__._

_Bite my pale skinny ass, but thanks for the info. Pass it on._

_Careful pup. I may take you on that offer. As for the information, I have alredy done so. There isnt anything we can do for now. I will be back shortly...I better get a nap after this._

_Why didn't I make a cat..._

Starke growled at that comment. He left and took off to find Sasuke while I fell back asleep.

**No POV**

Starke traveled swiftly to where he felt the pull of Sasuke's presence. It was thankfully near so if he was needed, he could help without risking himself. On the way however, he ran into unfamiliar scents. He hid, blending into the sand by using the color changing skill Kori weaved into his knowledge. He recognized them as Sasori and Deidra. He narrowed his eyes as he looked at them.

_Pup, excpect company. Those Akatsuki fellows are here. Should I kill?_

_SHIT! HURRY TO SASUKE!_

_No need to shout._

Those two never noticed his presence as he moved around them. Moving like the wind himself, Starke traveled to the old hideout of Orochimaru.

**Kori's POV**

So much for my nap. I quickly leaped out of bed and fell flat on my face. My legs were still weak but I wasn't going to let that distract me. I simply military crawled to the nearest person who was in the hall, climbed up on thier back, and looked down at them.

"I know this is weird, but mush," I said, pointing ahead, "Take me to Gaara."

"Do I look like a pack mule?" shouted the irritated person.

"No but if you don't I will make you belive you are in Fairy Land for the rest of your life...MOVE IT," I said emphasizing my evil intent if I wasn't obeyed. Normally I would ask but now wasn't the time. The person gulped and lead me to Gaara's office, when I got there I jumped off and began speaking without breathing again, "Oh my god they are coming we have to leave lets go!"

"What?" asked Gaara, "When did you wake?"

I calmed down, "Earlier. Sasori and Deidra are coming we have to leave," I said, "No time. Let's go mister. We need to do something..."

"Slow down girl scout," came Yuki's voice, "I heard you wake up and face plant, how it sounded. Those two are a few hours away yet. We need to get people to safety first and foremost. Then we work on getting Gaara to safety."

"R-right. I got ahead of myself again," I blushed.

"How will they attack?" asked Gaara.

"Aerial," said Yuki, "Explosives, and they will take out the guards. We need to move. Deidra can rapidly create explosions and Sasori carries various poisons and is encased in a formidable puppet."

"I will send the order," said Gaara moving swiftly.

Within an hour, everyone was being taken to the shelters and the guards were ready to defend Suna. Kori and I waited along side Gaara, Temari, and Kankuro, though Kori was only able to offer light medical assistance. We informed the Sand Siblings about what they could do and urged that Kankuro not face Sasori. We watched as Deidra was right on cue with his explosions.

**No POV**

Starke arrived at the hideout and howled to make his presence known. He was met near the entrance by Suigetsu who escorted him to where the others were. There he explained what was going on as he motioned for everyone to touch him.

_Kori and Yuki escaped Konoha, they are in Suna. There is a problem, Sasori and Deidra are there as we speak. They have probably informed how to defeat the enemy but they will need assistance. I am here to escort you to Suna, or at least nearby while they escort Gaara. After that we head to Land of Earth to find Killer B. Though this is unexpected we need to gather those two so we can be prepared for whatever happens. We don't know if Madara has personally attended to the capture of the other tails, but with thier locations we can't help them now._

"Let's go," said Suigetsu.

"We are going into a desert," said Sasuke, "Keep hydrated."

"Will do, I promise not to prune out...besides fish boy may cook before I dehydrate," teased Suigetsu.

"Watch it," growled Kisame.

They packed their things before following the wolf towards the Land of Wind. They traveled swiftly as they could, only taking breaks when absolutely necessary, time was of the essence.

**Meanwhile.**

Danzo paced his office as he waited on Sai. When Sai entered the office, Danzo smiled.

"Your mission is to find and kill Kori and Yuki. No exceptions, though if Gaara is found to be working with them, take him out. There is a chance he may be plotting to take over Konoha or worse, the Land of Fire itself," said Danzo, "Dismissed."

"Understood," said Sai before he disappeared.

At the flat, everyone had managed to clean up the best that they could. Shikamaru and Neji were mentally exhausted with everything that had happened. They had to find out how Danzo was so informed, and they had to stay out of his way. They both knew it was only a matter of time before Danzo would come after them, but they had to keep their promise. The creeping silence began to take its toll on the minds of the two. Neji curled his knees up to his chest and rested his head on them, while Shikamaru just sprawled out on the couch.

"How can we prove Danzo is dangerous?" asked Neji.

"I honestly don't know. If they find anything out then we will know. Right now we need to find out what really happened to Tsunade," sighed Shikamaru, "This is pain in the ass."

**Also...**

Madara stood there, disguised and in a full act, he propositioned Pein to move up his schedule to retrieve the nine tails. It was a bonus to have Pein himself declare Itachi and Kisame traitors and to be killed if they were to meet. Things were going smoothly. He had already captured the Four-Tails Jinchuriki, Roshi and the Three-Tails, and was working on others. Other members had captured the Five-Tails Jinchuriki Han and were now trailing the Two-Tails and Six-Tails.

Zetsu was talking to Pein, convincing him that Naruto was still in Konoha. After being convinced, Pein left with his other paths to begin the attack on Konoha and the capture of Nine-Tails.

**Kori's POV**

It sucked to watch Yuki and Kankuro tag, team Deidra while Gaara and Temari took on Sasori and I could only stand there and watch. I was ready to deliver any assistance...but it seemed like there was none to be had. Eventually I pouted and sat down frustrated. I didn't have enough chakra to be battle useful, just enough to activate my many healing kanji. I watched as Temari back flipped away from the tail of Sasori's puppet Hiruko.

"Oh sure, they get all the action," I grumbled, "Save the world I said...it will make you feel better. It doesn't say anywhere in the sign up for this shit you can be so fucked up that you can't do anything and have to watch your friends get hurt."

"Quit ya bitchin'!" screamed Yuki.

"Yeah well fuckin' quit talking and put that prissy bitch asleep before he blows us all up!" I yelled back.

"Eh?" asked Deidra, "Oh I just know you didn't speak of me! How dare you! I will enjoy turning you into perfection."

I wanted to tell him to eat shit and die, but that wasn't the best phrasing to use with Deidra. He might actually do it. Thankfully Yuki used her Heartsong ability to put blondie into a coma while Gaara managed to crush the weapon of Hiruko and force Sasori out. Since Sasori was a puppet we knew he wouldn't fall under her spell. When most of the danger was cleared, Kankuro jumped in on the action and faced off against Sasori. Normally I would have objected but right now I was feeling mischievous. Stupid should hurt, especially since we warned him what could happen and we didn't want a repeat of something like that.

I watched as the Sand Siblings worked with Yuki and take out Sasori's ability to walk, several times. I wanted to chew bricks. I was bouncing up and down in my indian style position yelling.

"Oh for fuck's sake, YUKI HIS CHEST!" I yelled.

"Well if you think this is so easy get your ass up here and help," gripped Yuki.

"Fine," I huffed getting up.

Injecting my chakra into a purple-yellow bomb, I tossed it and it landed on the shoulder of Sasori. A few seconds later his chest cavity was exposed. However before we could get a good shot in, Sasori closed up the hole. He then shot poisoned needles at us, causing us to scramble away. I jumped behind Gaara who put up his defense and looked at me.

"Look deadly projectiles, before you call me a coward...You make a good shield...OH great that didn't come out right," I said hitting my head against his shoulder.

"Kankuro," said Gaara, "Could you repair him?"

"Yeah," chuckled Kankuro, "I am a Puppet Master."

"Sand Coffin," said Gaara before he lifted Sasori up in the air and crushed the puppet itself.

"Dude!" said Kankuro, "You asked if I could repair it not rebuild it!"

"Would you have liked to be stuck with a needle or fight him for hours?" asked Gaara.

"He has a point," said Temari before pointing to Deidra, "What do we do with her?"

"Er, that is a boy...there is a lot of controversy behind weather he was supposed to be a girl or just really feminine," I giggled.

"I don't want to know," said Temari.

* * *

We bound Deidra as best we could, but without Lightning Release he was still dangerous. Hopefully Yuki could keep him unconscious long enough for the others to get here, then there was the issue of getting the crew together. I had a lot to think about while I sat down, tired from the exertion.

**Alpenwolf: **Lol, maybe but I needed him to get confident...come on man...he will meet his end, we just need him in the 'comfort zone' though not so much so Kori and Yuki are dead. OMG you did? O.O I feel so special! Thanks so much!

**gunitatsuhiko: **-brave face- It may or may not happen...-evil laugh-...I can't help it. Story progression...I do promise they will be together for a while..They just have to get to one another.

**Sukaretto Miyuki: **Aw come on, I love giving the girls a hard time! Makes them seem like the underdog...Plus, I kinda had to point it out. Sakura was bitching because her 'love' was all PMSing about killing Itachi and now she sees them together. Okay after thinking about it, I can't do a RL example of that event. Aw, she can be jelous...I mean she is way better med-nin. Kori focuses on more combat than medical stuff...so knowledge and skill wise Sakura is better. Only after secret reserch did Kori compile a list of diseases for her book...I am with you on the SasukexNaruto Yaoi...an even better and nosebleed worthy was the doshijuni (I suck at spelling that) of the threesome of SaixNarutoxSasuke...yummy. I want you to hate Danzo. I want you to want to pull through your computer screen, grab his ass, and beat him. So yeah...Sand Sibs and the girls with the others coming...so...what can happen with this kick ass team? Hmm...plans..

* * *

**River: **I know short chapter but this came out so soon after the previous one. There is also a lot of violence to make up for the shortness of this one. We have Sai to worry about, we need to see the attack on Konoha, and the travels to Land of Earth to get Killer B, but before that the gathering of the team and what happens to Deidra and Gaara. Naruto learns Sage Mode, and all that jazz. This next chapter may take a bit to complete, but I will try to mash eveything in and give you a good one. Plus we get to see more Neji and Shikamaru's emotions without the girls...and thier deductive skills. I hope I can squeeze that in as well.

**To Readers: **Thirty Chapters plus and nearly a hundred reviews (well give or take twenty, I know there are some review that haven't been posted due to the rapid update). OMG you guys are awesome for sticking with me this long. I love you all!** I bow to your generosity...Seriously.  
**


	32. Chapter 32:Prisioners of War?

**No POV**

**Mount My****ōboku**

Fukasaku ran rapidly among the shadow clones to keep them from turning into frog statues. He had to commend Naruto for his creativity, using shadow clones would cut down on the time it would take him to learn how to mold Nature Energy properly. With two days he had already made much progress. He had already figured out how to gather energy away from his body by using clones since Fukasaku couldn't attach himself to Naruto. Naruto even figured out how to meditate and figure out how to sit still using his shadow clones. Sakura was kept busy with helping Naruto recover from the injuries he sustained with the training, but she gave him a few more because he was working too hard.

**Meanwhile.**

Pein was searching around for the best location to sit while he controlled the rest of his paths. Konan was at his side, helping him. They had been carefully avoiding the apparent rise in guards and patrols. It wouldn't take long for him to wipe out the cause of his pain. A helpful new recruit had given him information that Danzo was the new Hokage of Konoha, which made this attack all that much sweeter.

'Tobi' stood there smiling, he had worked everything out perectly. Sending two members to kill and possibly die from attacking Itachi and Kisame. The two girls were probably still in the safe keeping of the fool Danzo and they wouldn't be of much use if Danzo listened to him about their abilities. Konoha nin were so easily manipulated. In a few days Konoha would be destroyed, the tailed beasts would be in his possession, and he would be ruling the world. He and Zetsu gathered a few things before heading off to retrieve the Two-Tails. Though if the other members should fall, it would be easy to find pawns to allow him to do the Fūinjutsu: Genryū Kyū Fūjin ritual. This game would be difficult because of the two unexpected wild cards but he could handle it. He would have to carefully watch Pein to make sure that he would be successful, they still had a few jinchuriki to capture.

**Konohagakure**

Neji, Ino, TenTen, Lee, Kiba, Shino, Hinata, Choji, Shikamaru, and even Gai, Asuma, Iruka, Kakashi and Kurenai helped take positions around Konoha and smuggle people out. The past couple days were difficult, they all had to avoid letting anyone know about what they were up to. The families who trusted Kori and Yuki were the ones who left first, all deciding to go on trips to visit family in another country, or for buisness. Some of the clans like the Nara, Inuzuka, Hyuga, and Yamanaka helped smuggled people out through hidden back doors located in their lands. The most difficult part was keeping those close to Danzo ignorant of the decreasing number of residence. Thanks to Ino and a few med-nin who were loyal to Tsunade helped fabricate a infectious disease and give various people symptoms, and said it was too dangerous for people to see them. That kept most of the curious people off their backs...Though it was a necessary evil to plant more evidence on Kori.

Danzo looked at the paperwork on his desk. It was all too convenient that a highly contagious and deadly disease spread through his beloved village. He was right to trust his gut instinct to keep an eye on those girls. They show up out of no where, in less than a year they pass the Chunin Exams, and within the next year they are a teacher and a jonin. Then wanted criminals are not only faced but ally themselves with those two. What made it worse was Tsunade knowing about it! He gritted his teeth, those two would be strung up for all to see their evil deeds.

**Team Taka and Company- Land of Wind**

They ran through the desert toward Suna, hoping to get there and not find it in ruin or some other catastrophe. As they ran, they were interrupted by two familiar presences.

"Itachi!" said another Akatsuki member, "The fucking traitor. Well Kakuzu, doesn't this make my day! Jasshin must be smiling on me."

"Shut up," said Kakuzu.

"The Zombie Combo," growled Kisame, "Try not to get hurt. If you bleed, Hidan can kill you."

"Then I will take on Hidan," smirked Suigetsu.

"Well this should be fun!" shrieked Hidan.

**Suna**

**Kori's POV**

We had Tied Deidara to a chair and removed his bag that carried his clay, and wrapped his hands up. Starke stood watch as Deidara came around, while I just rested in the same room. It would be easy to overtake a mind like his, knowing how he worked. He wasn't stupid, but his intelligence left holes in his defenses, since those with intelligence became overconfident.

"Hn," said Deidara groggily, "You! Bitch when I get out of here..."

"Oh save your breath," I interrupted, "I have a job for you. Give or take, I wish Sasori would have been alive but he wouldn't stop fighting. Anyway, you want to cause explosions? How about you do us a favor and blow up that statue you hold the Tailed Beasts in?"

"Are you fucking nuts!" said Deidara.

"Most likely," I mused, "I have been called a lot more than that. Look my home has just been taken away, I feel like I got stomped on by Shikaku, and I am running out of time and patience. You and your boss are being manipulated and are sent to die...just so some idiot can take over the world."

Deidara laughed, "You bound my hands...that isn't going to stop ."

"Look I didn't want to stuff your mouth or chest mouth with a gag. I want you to talk, the only reason for the theatrics is that I wanted to keep you still," I said, "I am sorry and I will let you go as soon as you hear me out."

"Nani?" asked Deidara, "Why would you let go of a wanted criminal, un?"

"Well the same reason I stopped you from getting Gaara, who is pissed at you by the way. I need people like you. Strong, smart...well most of you, and willing to do what you do best," I smiled, "I can't force you into this, but if you fight for me in the upcoming war, I promise that I will do everything in my power to grant you one wish, within reason."

"You're serious with this, un?" he asked.

"Yep and to show my good faith, I have something you would like. I am an artist as well, and I used a similar jutsu to create a bomb made from water, instead of earth," I smiled, "Wanna see?"

"Ha!" laughed Deidara, "As if you could un!"

I rolled my eyes and used some of the chakra I had recharged to use my last purple/yellow mix and brought a portion out of my skin and held the sticky mess. Tossing it up, it landed on the ceiling and popped, causing some of the sandstone to crumble down. Deidara looked at me and then the small crater I created in the ceiling. His eyes got wide before they narrowed at me.

"I didn't steal your work, I just love you enough to try and be a little like you," I giggled, "Everyone I love, they are pieces of me and I can use similar jutsus based on what I know of them. Though my element is strictly water right now..If I see it, I can touch them and 'record' what they do, if I couldn't figure it out before, and then I use it as a one time thing. I remember how I felt, what happened to my body, and all that jazz and as you would say it...BOOM! Well I would like to think of it that way."

"What the hell are you?" he said.

"I wish I knew," I said getting more comfortable, "So do you want to help? All you have to do is find the hideout, or where the statue is, blow it up to hell and then you are free and clear. You can come back or just do whatever you want to."

"I don't belive you," he said, "You are just going to kill me un. Who did I kill that was important to you?"

"No one, I am not from here...I have very few memories of my life before waking up in Konoha two years ago," I said curling my legs up and resting my head on my knees, "I-I want a home that I don't have to worry about who is going to die. I don't want people to die anymore for stupid shit, I want to live and not be wanted, captured, hurt, and junk. I don't know if it will last forever but...I want to try to stop Madara and people like him. He doesn't want peace he wants control of everyone. If he gets away with this, your hard work, your art, your life will be over."

"I will kill this Madara before he tries un!" said Deidara, smiling wickedly.

"You can't kill him like that. He can become intangible for periods of time, then he can send things to different dimensions, and he is or was an Uchiha," I told him.

"Those bastards!" he yelled.

"There is a catch, if you join me...help me...you will have to work in similar conditions that you are in now. You will be allied, in all formal ways of saying so, with Itachi and Sasuke. They have decided to help me for their own reasons, it is up to you, knowing the conditions of your 'changing sides', what do you say?" I asked.

"You want me to work willingly with that asshole!" he continued.

"No, I am just saying that you will be working with me, and I associate with Itachi. If it is your wish you will never see him again, but if your wish is to face him or kill him, that I can't allow you to do. Itachi is a good anchor for Sasuke, believe me...I had my ass kicked for faking Itachi's death. If you want the wrath of more than the Uchiha, try," I said, "Right now I do not have the strength to combat anyone...but I can ask for help."

"What makes you any different from those before you who wanted to stop war, un," he huffed, "It sounds to me you are controlling these people."

I thought about it and he was right. I had been fighting as hard as I could but in the end what was I really achieving? Amassing a powerful army or saving people? If I swayed back into the darkness I could easily try and take over a village or country. The words hit home, they made me think...something I had trying not to do. Things right now were on the edge of a knife and if I faltered, I would fail and countless others could die. I already allowed Danzo to take over Konoha. Tsunade was gone and so was Jiraiya...who would be next?

Tears stung my eyes as I looked at him. I couldn't stop them either, I used my willpower to push back the pain I was feeling but the tears kept flowing.

"I-I," I choked...I was faltering. What did Deidara gain by saying yes or no? Nothing, I tried to find my voice, "I...what am I doing?"

"Exactly," scoffed Deidara, "Here I am telling you what you could do and you sit there crying like a child. You think you can save the world? You don't look like you can handle yourself. If you can show me that you are worthy to follow then I might change my mind."

**Outside Suna**

**No POV**

Sai had a scroll to present to the guards at the main gate of Suna. He knew he may have trouble entering the village if the girls were already there. So he had already snuck in and only used his Ink Clone to distract the guards. There was no one in sight, the people were missing. Sai's eyes narrowed as he scanned the area. He silently made his way to the Kazakage's office, hoping he would find Gaara still alive.

**Kori's POV**

Starke sniffed the air. Growling he lowered his head at the window.

"What the hell is that mutt growing at un?" asked Deidara.

"Someone is here that isn't supposed to be. Any of your other members sent here?" I asked.

"No, Hidan and Kakuzu were ordered to intercept Itachi. I really wanted that one though," he pouted.

Starke reached out to me. _Sai, he is here. He smells like he is under stress, so we can safely guess that he isn't here to have a friendly chat._

_Go to Yuki and Gaara, they should be speaking in his office. Warn her that Sai is here and to keep Gaara safe, I will handle Sai._

_Pup, you are in no condition._

_Seriously I am tired of hearing that._

_Fine, get hurt. I can't let you die because I like living...Sai is scaling up the Eastern wall where the Kaze's office balcony is. If you hurry you can catch him before he reaches Gaara and Yuki._

I got up and started to untie Deidara, "Want to see me work? Come with me."

"What makes you think that I will not just run?" said Deidara, "I can easily kill you un."

"Curiosity. Mostly," I said finishing untying his bonds, "That and you want to guage how strong I am so if I am weak but alive you can take me out if you wish to kill me and turn tail back to your slave driving master."

I walked out, not even looking back to see if Deidara had tried to preform his hand seals. I ran down the hall and sped towards where Starke told me to intercept Sai. As I neared the window I looked back at Deidara.

"Jump, not jump...that really isn't a problem. Just don't splat when you follow," I said hopping out the window, wrapping my arms around a surprised Sai.

I saw Deidara stop in the window looking down at me before I turned my attention to Sai. Sai unsheathed his tanto and slashed across. Catching his wrist in my right hand, I avoided the blow as I turned in the air, throwing him over me and down to the ground. He sheathed his tanto and brought out his scroll.

"Chōjū Giga!" he said as he rapidly drew making beasts fly off the scroll at me.

I recalled all the tattoos I still had, I forgot my pigments and mentally cursed myself for it. Forming a hand seal I activated my blue-metallic sword on my arm. I used it to slash and kill a few of the beasts that were attacking me head on as I fell to the ground. Using chakra, I manipulated it so that it would envelop my joints and strengthen my legs so they wouldn't collapse or break when I turned and landed on the ground. Sai had already taken refuge on a building's wall and was running down toward me, the remainder of his beasts were already en route to attack me from behind. I quickly turned to have one clip me on the shoulder before I cut it in two. I couldn't rely on ninjutsu because of my lack of chakra. I wasn't at full strength and if this battle went on for too long, I was screwed.

**Mount My****ōboku**

**No POV**

"Alright," said Fukasaku, "We need to focus on you sitting still."

"Well if you stop yelling at me every five seconds," whined Naruto.

"Sitting still is the hardest thing for any living creature to do," said Fukasaku, "I am trying to help you and point out your flaws."

"Pervy Sage never had this problem," groaned Naruto.

"Pervy Sage?" laughed Fukasaku, "That is a fitting name. I do recall him doing all sorts of things in his training...you are actually progressing faster than he did, but he wasn't given a time limit."

"Alright," said Naruto, "Let's do this."

**Land of Wind**

Jugo, and Sasuke were engaging Kakuzu while Kisame and Suigetsu were fighting Hidan. Itachi stood back, watching thier moves with his Sharringan so he could accurately create a strategy to use against them. Both Hidan and Kakuzu worked well with one another, and he knew that Kakuzu would offer enough distraction for all of them so Hidan could kill them off one at a time. Another thing was Kakuzu's ability to attack short and long range.

Suigetsu dodged under the scythe while Kisame attacked his Samehada, barely missing Hidan by a few inches. Hidan turned his dodge into an attack, and went to cut Suigetsu in half. Using his Hydrification Technique, the blade passed harmlessly through Suigetsu.

"Cover him," said Kisame.

Suigetsu did as ordered and Kisame used Suigetsu as his water source for the Water Prision Technique, trapping Hidan within. Kakuzu already unleashed his masks, and the lightning one was speeding towards Suigetsu and Kisame. Itach intercepted it and used his Amaterasu to ignite the mask, causing it to miss Kisame with its Raiton: Gian. The three other masks were airborne and concentrating on Itachi himself, so Itach had to dodge around.

Jugo and Sasuke were having trouble with Kakuzu, who could match Jugo's strength and Sasuke's speed. Sausuke was even forced to use his Sharringan to keep up. Kakuzu cursed Hidan for being captured in the Water Prision.

"Fool, he never thinks," he said before he released the stitches on his body and switched to a long range style of attacks to keep Jugo at bay.

Both brothers were thankful that they listened to Kori's advice and Itachi implanted some of the flames in his brother's eye. Itachi's were already starting to bleed, and he couldn't use it as much as they may need it now. Itachi flipped back when the Wind and Fire masks began to work with one another sending powerful flame bullets his way. Sasuke noticed his brother, losing some of his speed because of the strain on his body due to using the Amaterasu, and he quickly changed his tactics to intercept the water mask using his chidori to break it before it could attack Itachi.

"Thanks," smiled Itach before pushing Sasuke out of the way of an enhanced Flame Bullet.

"We need to take out Kakuzu," said Sasuke, "Any ideas?"

"One," said Itachi, "Use your Lightning Release. We are going to stun him so Jugo can kill him. Tell Jugo to destroy his chest completely."

Sasuke nodded and jumped away, speeding towards Jugo. When he arrived he told Jugo of their plan. Not even a second later, Itachi managed to pull off a Water Wave that coated Kakuzu in water and left a small puddle around him. Sasukue then jumped toward Itachi, and as they passed Itachi moved out of the way as Sasuke released a Chidori current shocking the two masks chasing Itachi and stunning Kakuzu long enough for Jugo to use his Piston fist to land a direct hit to Kakuzu's chest. Jugo's bloodlust took over and he then began to rip apart the remainder of Kakuzu.

Itachi and Sasuke combined thier Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique to finish off the two remainder masks. After doing so Sasuke turned to Jugo and calmed him down before they began to wonder what to do with Hidan who still hadn't drowned.

Suigetsu reformed his head and looked at Hidan, "A normal person would have drowned."

"They are called the Immortals, though Hidan is more so than Kakuzu was. I still would incinerate the remains just in case a heart made it past Jugo's rampage," said Kisame.

"What do we do with him?" asked Jugo.

"Killing him is out of the question," said Itachi, "I have seen him lose quite a few limbs and still sit there and complain. Kori and Yuki will find use of him."

Bubbled spouted out of Hidans mouth before Suigetsu frowned, "He says we can fuck ourselves if we think we can kill him because Jassin has blessed him with immortality. I want to reform...the heat is killing me."

Suigetsu reformed and Itachi placed a genjutsu on Hidan while Sasuke listened to the advice and used his own version of Amaterasu to incinerate the remains of Kakuzu. Itachi warned that his recovering self would not allow him to keep up the genjutsu for very long and they should head to Suna as quickly as possible.

**Suna**

**Kori's POV**

I was beginning to wear down. Sai had managed to avoid being hit with all my poison kanji, using his ink beasts as meat shields. I was cut up from shuriken and avoiding his attacks, but I managed to do some damage to Sai. I pierced his leg and greatly cut into his arm before he broke my metallic blue sword. Starke had now returned to my side and was helping me defend myself.

"So you do create animals with ink," said Sai.

"Yep, two artists...masters of ink fighting...poetic ain't it?" I grinned before diving after Sai and snatching one of his scrolls off of him, "Got'cha."

I dumped the ink out into my hand and smeared it so it could be charged with my chakra. I had to disperse Sai's and keep my arm away from him, least he use my gambit against me. Starke was dealing with all the beasts that Sai used to attack me. I heard Yuki above me screaming at me.

"You dumbass!" she said, now running down the Kazekage's building, "When I get down there I am kicking your ass! You should be resting!"

I couldn't reply to her because I was avoiding some of the snakes that had gotten past Starke. Flipping back I realized I had hit the wall of the building and looked back. I knew I was fucked, my agility was the only reason I was able to keep Sai at bay and he had managed to corner me. I threw up a small shield made of my purple pigments I had in my tattoos and avoided a Tanto attempting to pierce my heart.

"Holy shit!" I said before sweeping at his feet.

As he jumped back, Yuki had already reached the ground level. I was advancing on Sai when I was pulled back and whipped around to face Yuki.

"What the hell are you doing," she began before she saw something and pushed me away.

I looked up as two Sais meet stabbing Yuki in the chest, piercing where her lungs would be. I watched in horror as she coughed up blood. She apologized to me before collapsing on the ground.

_Starke...watch over Yuki...The darkness...I feel it._

_Pup, with your chakra level you will only last three minutes._

_That is all I need._

_The strain on your body..You are bleeding everywhere._

"You bastard!" I yelled raising up and kicking both of them with a split kick, "I will rip both of you apart! Starke!"

Starke jumped over Yuki looking down at her. He sniffed her body before looking my way.

_Grant me the knowladge of healing._

_Fine, but only what is needed to save her life. Otherwise I will be too distracted to fight._

_As you wish._

I ran through my memories and gathered all the ones I knew about preforming surgery on those with collapsed lungs and connected to Starke. I pushed as much of it as I could as I fought hard against the two Sai. When I managed to give Starke the knowledge of the surgery I quickly ran through how to use the Mystical Palm Technique to him. I had to keep on the defensive while doing this though, and was almost stabbed more than once while focusing. When Starke howled, telling me he had enough knowledge to save her life, Now that I could save Yuki, well part of me anyway, I fully focused on Sai.

He already had his Tanto and was swinging it at me with deadly accuracy. Reusing some of the pigment that was left over from the shield, I used it to trap Sai's tanto. He abandoned it and then preformed his Ink Flush technique to entangle me. Concentrating, I began to move the chakra around, making the goo shift, and finally I turned the blade so that I could use it against him. He then produced a kunai while I shifted the shield remains around my body to defend myself from his attacks as I worked on freeing myself. With a burst of chakra, I caused the blade to spin around my body rapidly severing my bonds and forcing Sai back. Finally taking the tanto in hand, I attacked Sai vicously. Instead of dealing deadly blows, I delt ones that would cause pain and debilitate him but keep him alive.

Enhancing my legs with the remainder of my chakra, I enhanced my speed and darted around him, using the tanto to cut into him shallowly, aiming for muscles and tendons that allowed him to move his body. When my whirlwind attack was over, both of us were laying on the ground panting. I was fighting passing out again. Deidara came out from where he was hiding and looked down at me.

"It would be so easy, un," he smiled.

"Well..." I huffed, trying to catch my breath, "So...what say you?"

"You were injured and still was able to not only live but defeat your opponent," he said thinking, "One wish, un. Whatever I want?"

"Wi-within reason," I said closing my eyes.

"For now, strange kunochi. Why didn't you kill him?" asked Deidara.

"Info...he was after us for reason..I...wanna...wanna know," I said before passing out.

**Outside Suna**

**No POV**

"Can we get out of this fucking heat?" complained Suigetsu.

"We will, but I doubt Suna is going to let us in the front gate," said Itachi.

They were only a few feet from the entrance hiding among the landscape. A howl let them know that Starke was there, that certainly upped thier chances of making it into Suna undetected or at least with casualties low. The wolf padded over to their location and sat down. Bowing his head he allowed them to touch him.

_Kori and Yuki are inside along with Deidara and Sai. I have informed Gaara of your arrival. Though he is cautious of your presence he will allow you to stay until the girls awaken._

"What happned?" asked Suigetsu.

_Sasori and Deidara attacked and it would seem that Sai has attacked them. Weakened from thier capture in Konha, and injured from the attacks, they are resting. It will take some time to allow them to recover, but we can not stay here long. If Sai's presence tells us anything...Danzo is becoming insane with defending from threats that are not there, allowing the real threat to go unnoticed. We must trust Konoha to Naruto, while we intercept the attacks and capture on the other jinchuriki. The guards are informed of your arrival...you brought another?_

"What the fuck are you doing, that is a fucking dog!" yelled Hidan in bindings.

All of them laughed as they entered Suna. They were shown to the Kazakage's Office and found Gaara behind the desk. Garra looked over them and rested his eyes on Sasuke.

"I was informed of the allies the girls had, but I couldn't belive it, yet here you are. Does this mean that Naruto knows of your fate?" asked Gaara.

"Yes, the night those two were attacked Naruto was with us in our former home," said Sasuke, "What have those two done so far?"

"Other than making my life intresting," said Gaara, "They have succesfully help kill Sasori of the Red Sand and capture Deidara...I take it that man was part of your former faction Itachi?"

"This is Hidan, the Immortal. We captured him to see what Kori and Yuki would want," said Itachi, "I very well know is usefulness in battle and if he were to help us, it would greatly increase our chances. What are the condition of the girls?"

"Kori is suffering from exaustion, a few days ago she had all her chakra drained and a seal prevents her from normally regenerating chakra. It will take her twice as long to regenerate her energy and it will cause her chakra to leak out when using her jutsu. The other seals we managed to break, but we have no idea how to deal with the other. The seal would kill her if we try to remove it, and we were told by Yuki to keep that information from her. She doesn't even realize she has it. Yuki was able to escape Konoha before she was sealed and she is recovering from collapsed lungs due to the injuries Sai gave her. Though she could have, Kori did not kill Sai and we were informed by Deidara to keep him alive. He is currently recovering from his injuries in the same room as the girls. Deidara can be found somewhere...probably outside Suna blowing something up," informed Gaara,"I was told of my future by Starke if I am captured, and I cleared out Suna for now in case another attack was planned. I have decided to trust those two, they seem to preform the amazing things."

"Where are they?" asked Sasuke.

"Follow Temari, she will lead you to their room," said Gaara, before pointing at Hidan, "Take that with you."

"Fuck you, you little shrimp. Wait until I free myself I will enjoy massacaring your family and friends!" chuckled Hidan.

"Intresting chioice of words," said Gaara, "I doubt you could harm me before I crush you."

"I can not die-!" said Hidan before he was just dragged away by Suigetsu who now added a gag to his binds.

**The Next Day**

**Kori's POV**

I woke up with water being splashed on me, which made me come up swinging.

"Who the fuck!" I seethed before Suigetsu's laughter broke the silence, "Guys! You made it!"

"Yeah, we also brought Hidan. It has been a pain in the ass to keep him quiet...I even nailed him to the wall," said Suigetsu, "It is wierd to see him get stabbed and not die."

"HOLY SHIT!" I said squealing, "Take me to him.."

I pretty much ran to where Hidan was being kept. From outside the door it sounded like Deidara was laughing at him, or something because obscinities were streaming through the air. I burst through the door bouncing up and down.

"OH my god, Hidan! You are cute...holy crap can I hug you?" I said, voice still in fan girl mode.

"What the hell? Who the fuck is she?" asked Hidan.

"I am your awesome bubbly master mind of the insanity!" I said cheering myself, "I really didn't think that you would be sent after Itachi...uh-oh...if you are here, where are Konan and Pein?"

"Konoha probably," said Hidan, "Do you mind scratching my nose..it itches."

"Dude no way, I used that to escape Orochimaru...I can take you down if you want," I said.

"No, he would kill me," said Deidara, "You too."

"Hmm, I am not worried. I can keep him placid. If he gets out of line I can give him nightmares or turn him into a fruitcake," I giggled.

"I would not advise it," said Itachi in the doorway, "He is just here until we heard from you or Yuki. She is still not awake."

"Oh," I said remembering, "Is...she?"

"Stable," said Itachi.

"Oh in that case I can use my kanji tattoos to help her body heal," I said raising my sleeve.

"No," said Itachi, "You may do more harm than good."

After he said that Starke padded in and yawned. Walking up to me he laid down.

_Sleepy._

_I would say so...I don't mind if you nap._

_Can't. Who will watch over you while I am asleep?_

_Itachi, Sasuke, Deidara, Gaara, Temari, Kankuro, Suigetsu, Jugo...myself._

_-snicker- Pup if that were the case...you wouldn't have needed me in the first place. I will only sleep when you are safe._

_What is safer than being with former Akatsuki, Taka, and the Sand Siblings?_

_Not having a mentally unstable man nailed to a wall. It was amusing to watch...he has to be masochistic...he almost seemed to be enjoying it._

_Hold that thought._

"Hidan," I said looking up at his eyes, "My fave color, like my hair...psht, anyways. What do you want to do with your life?"

"To serve my lord," he said.

"Besides that. I know you, crass, agressive, sadistic, and yet your work, as cruel as it is, effective and beautiful. Skilled people like you should not be sent to meaningless deaths. Before you spout out the immortality bullshit...I can tell you now. You can very much die..if I were to take out your soul, use you as a sacrifice...which would probably be the case if I let you walk out of here and you scamper back to Pein. Now, you want kills...that I can promise. I need help stopping 'Tobi' from causing too much damage and taking over the world. In short, you will most likely have your dreams taken from you," I said.

"That fool? He was chatting with Pein in our last meeting," said Hidan.

"Eh?" I said turning to Deidara," And you were going to tell me this when?"

"You never asked un," he said.

"Names, dates, locations, NOW!" I said, putting on my 'I am bad ass' pose.

"He only said Konoha was under new management and that you and your sister were threatening Pein's plans," said Deidara, "That is all I caught. The rest I just phazed out un,"

"Oh my god, if the message was an explosion two hundred kilometers away you would notice in full detail...shit. In twenty-four hours, Konoha may not exist anymore," I said biting my lip before looking at Hidan, "You. I am going to set you free. Do whatever you want, but when Madara starts war...I want you to help..That is the price of your freedom. In the war you can kill to your hearts content, there will be plenty of sacrifices on the enemy side. Doesn't that sound fun?"

Hidan grinned wickedly at me, "What is the body count of the forces?"

"Thousands maybe, never really thought about it," I answered, "I know you just love a full scale massacare. I have made the same offer to Deidara here. Though I offered him one wish. I can extend the offer."

"What if I wanted your life?" he asked.

"If we get a better shot at winning, sure," I said, "I am not really afraid...though Starke here might complain."

"Alright, you have your man," said Hidan, "First, get me out of this. The nails itch."

I took out a kunai and sliced my hand with it, "Good faith."

I then brought my hand up to his lips as I began pulling out the nails keeping his body still. He licked my hand and transformed into his other appearance. If he wanted to he could kill me and not bat an eye. I could hear Itachi grumbling about idiotcy before shaking his head. After I removed all the nails he dropped down.

"The ritual involves your blood and the Jasshin symbol. If you make the mark, I am dead," I said, "So my life is now in your hands."

"Hmm," he mused, "If I kill you then your friends here may not be happy. You also offered me some future fun...I may stick around for a while."

"Good to hear, I have a lot to live for," I sighed, "I think I may be borderline suicidal by now. Too many close calls. Anyway, welcome aboard. We are a team of various shinobi working on preventing a war, we owe no alliegance to any one contry, nor can we take sides in their petty quarrels. Our job is to stop Madara from collecting all the jinchuriki and executing his Eye of the Moon Plan. Gaara here is who we need to protect...Since you cannot die, you will help me appeal to Killer B. Deidara, I would like to ask you to protect Gaara, not that he is incappable of doing so..but if anyone suspicious comes within a hundred meters of him, blow them to hell."

"Ohh, I like that idea un," said Deidara.

"Thought you might, what about you Hidan?" I said looking at him.

"I don't know, why am I being sent after a jinchuriki?" he asked.

"Well Killer B is tempramental, and if Naruto wasn't busy I would ask him to do so but since Naruto is a jinchuriki himself...it is a dangerous gamble. Right now I am soely running on odds, and I am pretty sure my luck will run out," I yawned, "Hopefully when it does I will be a senile old woman who steped to many paces off the edge of a cliff because I have gone blind."

"Is there another reason?" asked Hidan.

"Well, about an eighty percent chance Tobi is going to be there...and I could always send blondie bear and you to play spies, but Itachi was found out so we don't know if Zetsu is keeping tabs on us or not. All I know is that when I find him, weed killer will come in handy," I grumbled.

Hidan burst into laughter, "I like you. How much do you know about torture?"

"I spent a little over a week or so having my bones slowly crushed, splinters shoved in my nails, hands, feet, wrists, arms, my back flayed with whips, chairs broken over my head, and beatings for a few hours, along with the shallow cuts they did...So quite a bit love," I smiled, "Blunt, sharp, loud, cold, hot, and sometimes silence and water. I had the good old five basics worked on me. I specialize in mental torment because what the brain percives as realitiy the body does as well."

"Genjustu?" Hidan asked.

"Nope, apparently I am phycic and I can weave ninjusu into it to form a living nightmare of sorts, and make bodies do marvallous things. I mean I am not totally great at it, but I can buy some time and hear the musical screams if I want, Kisame can tell you about that venture," I said, "I fell into darkness, the negative emotions and junk I guess, and I broke...Took out Suigetsu, Kisame, Yuki, and Jugo before I was stopped. And I think my crazy is contagious, my boyfriend took a few blows for me to calm down."

"That is a shame," said Hidan, "Pretty, violent, assertive...I would have liked to see what you could do in the-"

"Okay!" I said blushing heavily, "I-I um...Sai...innterogate.."

I walked off just to overhear Hidan saying, "What did I say?"

I walked to Yuki's room and looked at her recovering, Gaara had ordered his best med-nin to work on her for saving his life, and his brother, since we blurted that info out. She wasn't awake yet but her wounds were looking good, it would take her a few more days of healing, less than that if they allowed me to get near her and use my kanji but I was instantly shooed out. I then went to where Sai was recovering and saw him sit up on the bed.

"Hey Sai," I waved, "I know you are just doing your job but...SERIOUSLY I have had you over for dinners, lunches, drawn with ya and I know we have been friends for at least three months now. Come on man!"

"Danzo has evidence that you betrayed Konoha," Sai said looking at me, "I am protecting my home."

"Konoha is...was my home. Danzo made sure that it was taken from me. I had a family, not blood realated but all my friends...My heart has been ripped out Sai...and now Danzo is sending out my friends to kill me and Yuki?" I said throwing up my hands, "Lemme guess..we are working for the enemy...selling secrets and shit...the whole shi-bang?"

"That is about half of it..I have seen Itachi, Kisame, Deidara, Hidan, all Akatsuki members here, along with Suigetsu, Jugo, and Sasuke...experiments of Orochimaru," said Sai, "What Danzo told me has weight...you look guilty. It is worse you sold Suna's people into slavery and convinced Gaara to work with you. Plus you attacked the former Godaime and she is Kami knows where."

I burst out laughing unable to hold it in anymore, "Oh shit really? I just so happened to run into Sasuke and I thought I would do Naruto a favor with him. Itachi is stablizing Sasuke, and the others are kinda touch-and-go. I am still sleepy but I should have enough chakra to tell you my story and show you what all I did the night of Tsunade's disappearance."

I rummaged through my memories and organized them, and in one touch delivered what I was doing and what Konoha would be facing. After it was over I slumped down on the ground and was panting. Sai sat there with wide eyes and blinked several times before he acknowlaged anything around him.

"Why would he lie?" asked Sai, "He only wants to protect."

"It may seem that way but he is the reason Itachi went rouge, Sasuke snapping, Tsunade's injuries, and possibly Konoha's destruction. He is being used Sai...I know you know me and Yuki well enough and I know you were just following orders..but I also know that, that man caused you to kill the one person who cared about you the most...I am sorry, I truly am..but do you really want someone like that ruling Konoha...From what I heard I am on the kill list as well as everyone who is in my social group so far. Minus a few people, but I had them stay behind for good reason," I said calmly, "What I am trying to do is make a better place. Thieves, killers, other ilk...that is what I need. Our true enemy is ruthless so what better to fight evil with than with evil? I can appeal to all of them...and I will keep my word. Putting my life on the line for that...but I realize that if I don't stop doing the right thing by myself I will beome a zelot and probably take down more than myself in the process."

"So you expect you keeping me alive is going to make me owe you something?" asked Sai.

"I am keeping you alive because you are my friend," I smiled, "Whew...that last battle with you wore me out. I don't have as much chakra as I thought."

**Konoha**

**No POV**

He was all set up, all he needed to do was center the Deva Path over Konoha and destroy the village and its people. He ordered his Paths to begin to attack while he watched from the sidelines.

**Meanwhile...**

Everyone had tried thier best to keep Danzo in the dark and had evacuated everyone from the center out. Neji was off on a mission, returning with his team, Hinata was visiting Kiba, Ino was helping Shikamaru and Choji escort a family out of Konoha...the others were trying to keep a look out for Pein. When his Six Paths broke through the barrier, Inochi used his Telepathy to warn Shikaku and Choza about the Paths, while they gathered medical nin and shinobi to help defend the remainder of the village. It was too late though, the Deva path had already used the Shinra Tensei to begin to turn the center of Konoha into a crater. Thankfully Kori's friends had evacuated most of the area, and there were few injuries, the ones that were used for defense were kept in the Inuzuka and the Hyuga compunds, which were the farthest away from the blast. The hospital was cleared and Tsume and Hiashi cleared out a few of thier home's rooms for medical staff and for the injured, in case the hospital was in fact destroyed.

When the blast cleared, everyone looked on his horror, almost a quarter of Konoha was gone, a pile of rubble in the middle of a crater. Ino gasped as she ran out of the Nara forest and saw the destruction, she blessed her friend for being able to save those people who once lived in the now obliterated homes. Now she had to defend her home from the invders, biding all the time she could. Kori would send help if she couldn't make it there, right?

* * *

**F****ūinjutsu: Genryū Kyū Fūjin****: ** Sealing Technique: Illusionary Dragon Nine Consuming Seals- a technique that was used by Pain and the other members of Akatsuki to forcibly drain the spirit and chakra of the tailed beasts from their still-living jinchūriki, then to seal it in what appeared to be the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path. The technique took three full days to complete if nine of the Akatsuki members were present. Kisame Hoshigaki suggested that it "may take longer without Orochimaru". When reduced to three people, Zetsu claimed that, with so few people left to perform the technique, it would take a while.

To prepare for the technique, Pain would summon the sealing statue, after which each member would then stand on one of its fingertips, corresponding to their specific ring finger. When performed, this technique caused the bit to fall out of the mouth of the statue. Each of the Akatsuki members would then concentrate, causing the kanji of their rings to appear on the nail of the finger they were standing on. Nine dragon-like effigies then poured from the statue's mouth, surrounded the captured host, and removed the tailed beast from them (the process seems to be quite agonizing to the host). In the case of an unsealed tailed beast, the same thing happened to the beast itself, and still took as much time as if it were sealed. After the process was complete, the beast was sealed within the statue, and one of the statue's nine eyes opened. The host then died due to the removal of their tailed beast. The Nine-Tailed Demon Fox must be sealed last, or the statue would shatter.

* * *

**Chōjū Giga****: Super Beasts Imitation Picture- **By infusing his chakra into the ink beforehand, Sai can draw objects with a brush on his scroll (something he can do very quickly); the moment the brush is removed, the drawings become animated and leap off the page. These creations grow to life-size once they have been brought to life. There are few techniques in existence that have so many different uses such as this.

**Raiton: Gian: Lightning Release: False Darkness- **Kakuzu's lightning-element mask emits lightning in the shape of a spear from its mouth, which then pierces the enemy. Its destructive power is great enough to even pierce through rock; meaning it has a high killing potential. The user can increase the number of spears to attack multiple enemies. All these makes it next to impossible to evade

**Shinra Tensei** is the ability to manipulate gravity at the user's will to repulse matter away. Depending on the amount of force the user puts in this technique, it can easily shatter wood, bones, metal, or stone walls. By using this technique as a defensive measure, all attacks directed to the user will be deflected, no matter the size, power or mass. It can also be used to repel flames caught on the user's only downside to this technique is that there is a short period when it is unusable after being used. The minimal time period is about five seconds, but it varies depending on the amount of power put into the attack. Nagato mostly used this with the Deva Tensei can be used on a larger scale for massive destruction. Before it can be used however, Nagato must break his connection with all but the Deva Path (presumably to channel all available chakra through it). A massive gravity well is created above the target, crushing everything beneath in a titanic explosion. Using Shinra Tensei on this scale shortens Nagato's lifespan and leaves him unable to use it for several minutes. Konan also noted that large-scale use of Shinra Tensei slows down the recovery rate of the Six Paths of Pain. -Narutowikia...

Like if you didn't already know I use that site quite often to look up and remember moves of people and minute details of them...like what they like and dislike...

* * *

**Alpenwolf: **Well he did...I am sorry. I think when I imagined that, I lost a few years of lifespan, and all physical attraction for the opposite sex for a while...It spooked me that badly...and made me cringe. Well Idk...they were fighting and then they poofed to Suna magically...why because I said so. Sai...option two. Kori is going to be gathering her own personal army...give or take a few Akatsuki members...As much as I liked Kakuzu's abilities, I felt it was needed to off him...The thought of Hidan or someone pissing Kakuzu off in the war didn't end well in my mind. Psht, we all know Madara is manipulating stupid Danzo...if it wasn't a given already. Oh no, I don't mind that Starke's owner isn't Kori...I was just estactic you named Starke, Starke. You don't know how that makes me feel...I am glad that you are comitting to my insanity...lol...I really don't know where I am going to end it...I may stop at the end of the war...may keep going and do some 'future' stuff for the characters...

* * *

**River:** I tried to fit what I could in here, and I had too much going on, dealing with Taka and Itachi and Kisame, plus what went on in Suna. So we saw very little of Naruto's Sage training...saw some of what is going on in Konoha, and how far Danzo flipped his lid...So Kori is amassing an army eh? This should be fun.

Upcoming: Naruto's Sage Mode- Defending Konoha (pretty much cannon with changes) May/may not put in the touchy moments of Naruto meeting his parents...I am sorry I LOVE those scenes..though I am tempted to have Kori pop in...

Trip to Land of Earth-Finding and appealing to Killer B...with as little blood spilled as possible.

Danzo's Demise: Return of Tsunade or just overthrowing of him because of Pein?

Will Pein live or die?

P.S. Told you guys I would make up for the last chapter being short...hope you like...I just hope I didn't skimp on the fighting details.


	33. Chapter 33:Konoha's Defense

**(A/N: **Before I begin I would like to inform you this will be attack on Konoha...there will be time skips on what Naruto is doing and what the others are doing as well. Like I said it is mostly cannon stuff with a few changes..I hope you like what I did...-crosses fingers-**)**

**Konohagakurge**

**NO POV**

Danzo couldn't believe his eyes as he saw the newly formed crater that used to be the center of Konoha. He cursed himself, and ran down to the rooms where the girls were being held captive. He swung the door open and the loud bang radiated down the empty hall.

"Betrayal?" he asked himself. It would seem that those girls corrupted everyone that they came in contact with. How long before they would turn against him? "So they set me up. Bitches!" Danzo then called upon his Root forces and told them to fan out, "I want to know everyone who is working with them. Bring them here."

"But sir," said Tera, "We are under attack!"

"Let the jonin handle it," said Danzo, "We have more pressing matters to attend to."

"Sir," said the remainder of Root before they dispersed.

**Mount My****ōboku**

"I think I got the hang of it," said Naruto.

"It would seem that way," said Fukasaku, "I hope that this is enough. Well time to practice your Frog Kata again."

"Aww," pouted Naruto before something caught his eye, "Hey what is that?"

"Birds...they are all coming from Konoha," said Fukasaku, "I believe the attack the girls warned us about.."

"Konoha!" cried Naruto before he sprinted towards his village.

"Now, don't be hasty!" said Fukasaku running after Naruto, "We don't know if it is an actual attack. You aren't ready!"

"I can't sit by while my home is being destroyed!" cried Naruto.

"Hold on," said Fukasaku, "I think it is time to give you something."

After that, Fukasaku lead Naruto to where the Great Toad Sage was. The Toad Sage looked down at Naruto and explained the prophecy but was disturbed that a few holes were in it. A few things he remembered about seeing Naruto were different such as his timing, and Jiraiya. Fukasaku asked the Sage about giving Naruto the key, seeing as how that was what Jiraiya asked him to do if Naruto could master the Sage Techniques. The Great Toad Sage said that was the only thing that hadn't changed but warned him about something.

"The future is clouded, young one. There is a man with powerful eyes you must fight, and two young ladies who are like Earth and Sky who have decided to change the future..It would seem that they hope for a bright future but if the painting girl falls astray, she can destroy the world. Like you, she has now become part of the future, yet she has no past. You must protect her, many owe them their lives for her intervention, and many more will. Her will shall be tested the most because of her ability to feel what others do and take those feelings and turn them into power. Save the Earth to save the Sky, for the Sky will heal the Earth with rays of hope when clouds attempt to choke the Earth of its light," said the Great Toad Sage, "I have seen you get the Key, and entrust you with it. If you fall astray you may very well end us all..Be careful from here on. When the girl loses faith remind her the world isn't just black and white but full of color."

"Kori?" snorted Naruto, "How can she?"

"They were brought here for reason..Perhaps things needed to change," said the wise toad, "Why. Not even I can tell."

Nearby Shima and Sakura were nearby Konoha, shopping. When they saw the dust cloud and the dispersion of birds both of them went to investigate. When they got there, they saw a crater in the middle of Konoha and saw an unkown man drop from the center of the explosion. Sakura looked at Shima.

"Oh my," said Shima, "Hold on, I will summon help."

Shima preformed her summoning jutsu and called forth Naruto, Fukasaku, Gamaken, Gamabunta, Gamakichi, and Gamahiro to thier location, just outside Konoha Memorial. Naruto was about to speed of before he was held back by Sakura.

"I was informed that there are six of them, along with the controler who would be nearby. The girls weren't specific but they were able to tell us a bit about them," said Fukasaku, "More than that, we can't be seen. This Pein is after you mi'boy. That and if Danzo knows you are here, we were warned that you may be in danger."

"Alright," said Naruto, "Sakura, come with me. We gotta find out what is going on."

Just then Kiba and Hinata landed nearby. Kiba had already picked up his scent along with Akimaru. When they landed Hinata waved.

"Naruto-kun!" she said, "Why are you here?"

"What is going on?" asked Naruto, "I am helping protect my home."

"Pein is here," said Kiba, "Thankfully the area he attacked was empty of villagers. Over the past couple of days we had been clearing out people just in case those two were right. Thankfully they have yet to let us down. Right now we are working on tracking them and killing them."

"I will try to find the one who did this to Konoha," said Naruto, "We have to take him out first. If we don't then he could destroy a part of the city with people in it."

"N-naruto-kun," said Hinata, "P-please be careful."

"Alright Hinata," smirked Naruto, "Don't worry I have Sakura here to help if I get too injured."

"Um, o-okay," said Hinata looking down, "I-I am coming with you!"

"Why?" asked Naruto.

"I-I want to protect you!" cried Hinata, "Y-you are special to me.I l-l-love you."

"Eh?" said Naruto taken back by Hinata's words, "I love you too!"

Hinata eye's lit up before she realized he was just being friendly, "That isn't what I meant. I mean I really love you. K-kori said that you were thick but seriously? Do I have to spell it out?"

"Hinata," said Kiba, "Now isn't the best time. We have something to do. Go with Naruto. I will be meeting my mom anyway."

"Hai!" said Hinata before she grabbed Naruto and took off to the center of the village where the Deva Path was.

Hinata, Naruto, and Sakura headed off to fend off the Deva Path. While in the meantime, Shikamaru had his hands full trying to figure out how to find Pein himself. They had nothing to go on except what the girls hinted that Pein would be nearby. Kakashi had already tried and failed to stop the Deva Path and it would seem that Asuma fell to the Human Path while protecting Kurenai, leaving both her and Shikamaru in tears.

**Suna**

**Kori's POV**

I paced in the room where Gaara, Temari, Kankuro, Hidan, Deidara, Itachi, Kisame, Sasuke, Jugo, Sai, and Suigetsu were. I was beside myself with worry but there wasn't much I could do right at the moment. I was thinking about everything. We were just informed about the attack on Konoha, I knew that Madara would work quickly but not this quickly!

"Damnit," I mumbled aloud, "If it is this soon, he won't be ready. He is going to need help..Shit."

"What is a matter?" asked Suigetsu, "Don't tell me you are breaking under pressure now?"

I snapped my head up and glared up at him, "No...Taka needs to go back to make sure that the damage is minimal...if that is alright Sasuke."

"Fine," he said, "Konoha was my home too, just took me a while to realize it."

"Itachi, I leave the whole Eight-Tails jinchuriki, Killer B up to you. I need to move out and I hope that I can make it back in time. Yuki will hopefully help you," I said.

"You aren't planning on fighting in your condition," said Hidan, "I would hate if I got robed of killing you."

"I can work well with little," I smiled.

"I hope that you know what you are doing," sighed Gaara, "I do not know if you are good luck or bad. It would seem that everytime your name appears somewhere, there is trouble."

I laughed, "Maybe. Can't help I was born this special. Alright we head out, yesterday."

With that, I gathered my things and was already on my way to Konoha with Sasuke, Sai, Jugo, and Suigetsu. The trip was exhausting and I was doing my best to keep up...Starke helped me by shocking me with small amounts of chakra so I could focus on using it to increase my speed. It was dangerous but effective to enhance one's legs with chakra, if you went too fast you ended up slicing yourself in half on a tree limb if you weren't careful. We sped towards Konoha, and made it out side the forest in little over six hours. On the way to the main gate, I ended up running into a girl I had helped on one of my D-rank missions. Her name was Taki, she wanted to aspire to become an artist, like me but not in the cool ninja way. She used to hang out with me a lot when I wasn't on missions, but as I became occupied we just saw one another now and again. I stopped and looked at her.

"Taki?" I asked before the girl ran towards me and hugged me crying.

"KORI! They- they went back! I told mom and dad that you were right! They didn't listen...then...then...ITS ALL GONE!" she cried in my chest.

"Shh," I said, "Look I am here..I am sorry that I was...delayed but...I promise to find your mum and dad."

She sniffled, "Okay...Where do I go?"

I looked around to try and remember all childish 'hideouts' I made during training, for strength and endurence...plus they helped in a tight spot or when weather turned for the worse. I was lucky, there was one I remember building...It was a small fox hole in the ground but large enough to fit a few people inside and keep them hidden if things went wrong.

"Is your brother here?" I asked. She nodded, "Alright, your mission is to gather everyone who hasn't made it to shelter in the area to follow you. If you head east from this spot, in an hour you will find a tree with three stripes cut into the bark below the first branch, take thirty steps north of it and there is a fox hole I made a year back...It should still be in good condition. Nothing fancy but it will keep you and your brother safe."

She smiled at me, "O-okay."

Sasuke looked at me in surprise, "Why do you have a fox hole?"

"Well when I was still in the 'recovery' list...I used to run away from my therapists and hide out in the woods...I got bored and...well...bored Kori is never a good thing...I ended up making traps, exploding fruit, fox holes, tree houses...shadow clones come in handy," I rambled blushing.

When Taki left, we continued towards the main gate. Those who were lucky enough to be close to the gate were streaming outside, careless of those around them. Wishing I had Yuki here to help, I began to try and organize the evacuation...telling Sasuke to assist those people inside with Pein.

**No POV**

Naruto had just managed to kill the Animal Path of Pein and was already speeding towards the Deva Path. Hinata and Sakura were guarding Naruto, but had to break off when the Naraka Path tried to attack Naruto. They avoided being caught in his grip as he charged them with fulll force swinging at the girls, trying to capture them...

Danzo was having his own troubles. The Preta Path was used to target him, even his elite ROOT members couldn't quite face him head on with his absorbsion of chakra. Cursing himself Danzo began to prepare his sealing jutsu to paralyze the target, but was dismayed when the Preta Path just absorbed it as well.

Kiba, Tsume, Choji, and Ino were facing off with the Asura Path. Even with the tag team efforts of the Inuzuka clan, the Asura Path defended himself well. Explosions were set off by his missiles missing Choji and Ino as she tried to focus on hitting him with her Mind Body Switch Technique. Choji used his expansion jutsu to capture the Asura Path but had to release it when blasted Choji with chakra and caused him to fly back. The sudden focus left Ino the time she needed as she captured the Asura Path. Tsume and Kiba looked at the Asura/Ino and escorted her away so they could study the body, with Choji in tow protecting and carrying Ino's body.

Meanwhile the Human Path was on its way to intercept Naruto and steal his soul, having been relayed the info from the Naraka Path. When he arrived, he almost had his hands on Naruto but was batted away by Hinata, who caught a glimpse of him out of the corner of her eye, with the Jūho Sōshiken, stunning the Human Path. Naruto was amazed by her and smiled.

"Thanks Hinata," he said before the Deva Path's time limit was up and repulsed everyone back, knocking Hinata, Sakura, and Naruto on their backs.

Before Naruto or the others got up, the Human path recovered and had Hinata in his grasp. Hinata looked up at Naruto and smiled. Sakura would have intervened but the Naraka Path was keeping her very busy. The Deva Path looked between Naruto and Hinata before the Human Path relayed the information to him.

"Oh, I see," said Nagato through the Deva Path, "Let me teach you about Pain." After that he began his rant about the cycle of hate and all the pain it caused while the Human Path proceeded to choke Hinata.

Naruto got up, activated Sage Mode and attempted to kick the Human Path away. However he was interrupted as the Deva Path intervened and used his attraction ability to force Naruto back and pierce him through the shoulder with one of the chakra rods.

Danzo had finally figured out how to defeat the Preta Path and was now looking over a corpse. He ordered his Root members to inspect the body. He had to clean up the mess and by the looks of things, there was a scuffle in the middle of the crater...Narrowing his eye, he decided to investigate.

Meanwhile Sasuke, Jugo, Sai, and Suigetsu began to hop along the rooftops of Konoha to where they believed Danzo would be. Sasuke would not pass up this chance. However on his way he saw Naruto, Sakura, and Hinata fighting three Paths and it looked like they were losing. Sasuke bit his lip. He wanted Danzo and he could taste revenge, but his friends needed his help. Stopping on a nearby rooftop he looked at them. Suigetsu placed his hand on Sasuke.

"It is your choice," he said, "We will follow you no matter what."

**Kori's POV**

I had finally managed to find someone to take over for me and make sure the residence didn't kill one another. Speeding towards the center crater, Starke on my heels, I hoped that I would make it in time to keep Naruto from going full mental breakdown. I crossed my fingers as I ran down the alleyways that were not crammed with people. When a shadow passed over me I cursed myself, I was a flipping ninja! Streets were for citizens...so I managed to manually climb up the wall, saving all the chakra I could while Starke glided past me, making sure I didn't fall.

Pushing my normal limits to the max, I hopped across the rooftops toward the center of destruction, hoping to find what I was looking for. When I got there, it literally took me by surprise..There fighting along Naruto was Sasuke. Jugo and Suigetsu were helping Sakura and Hinata, and by the looks of it they had received injures from battle. Sakura pulled back as Suigetsu pretty much cleaved the Naraka Path in two. Jugo was busy with the Human Path, batting it away while in his second form of his cursed seal form*. While watching I noticed that Naruto was injured and I tried remembering how long the Deva Path had before it could do that repulse/attract thing but my mind blanked out.

I had no choice, I jumped into the fray so I could help my friends. After the Deva Path used his attractant version of his jutsu, I tossed a kunai. It was unfortunately deflected because the Human Path saw me coming but it offered enough of a distraction that Sasuke and Naruto hit him with a Rassingan and a Chidori. However the Naraka path revitalized and was about to stab both of them. I landed and tackled the Naraka Path before he could do any damage and Starke was already on him, tearing out the Path's throat.

" 'Sup!" I said after landing on the Naraka Path, "Meet your maker!"

I then began to go medieval on it by ripping out the transmitter rods one by one when I could. Thankfully Starke was a huge help of pinning down and keeping the Naraka Path subdued. After making sure that the only thing the Path could do was twitch every now and again, I hoped off and looked at Naruto and Sasuke who were eying me with pale faces. I turned back at the now mangled looking body and then back at them.

"What?" I said scratching my head, "He so deserved it. He was about to go all stabby stabby on you two...Couldn't have that could we? The transmitters...they are the key in stopping them, hopefully but we can't be too sure...LOOK OUT!"

As I was rambling again the King of Hell was used to revitalize the Deva Path who now was about to fatally wound both Sasuke and Naruto. Sasuke, using his Sharringan, was quick enough to push Naruto out of the way and take the blow for him. Naruto was stunned as he watched his best friend collapse from a rod going through his heart, and arm, where Naruto's body previously occupied. This caused two things...the inevitable mental meltdown of Naruto, and the mental uber slap for me. If I hadn't been there, they would have been fine..I saved them but I caused Sasuke to take a fatal hit. I bum rushed Sasuke and caught him before he hit the ground. I looked at Naruto and saw him begin to go all Nine-Tails. I then pulled out the rod and began to try and preform the Mystical Palm Technique but found that I couldn't muster the chakra...what the hell?

**Suna**

**Yuki's POV**

I woke up after being unconscious. I remember being stabbed by Sai before things went black. I hoped that Kori didn't go off the deep end again. When I rose up from my bed I saw Hidan and Deidara at the foot of my bed.

"She is awake, un," said Deidara.

"AHHHHH!" I screamed, accidentally using my chakra to enhance my vocals, blowing them back.

"What the fuck!" said Hidan, getting up, "What the hell was that for? I should kill you for that."

Itachi heard me and was already in my room.

"Wh- Wha- They...Escaped? Am I in an Akatsuki hideout?" I frantically asked.

"No, Hidan was captured by my group while your sister talked to them and appealed to their interests," said Itachi, "She is in Konoha now...doing whatever, hopefully nothing too destructive."

"Bitch better not un," said Deidara crossing his arms, "She promised I could do the damage."

I fell back on my bed, "How long?"

"A couple days," said Itachi, "Gaara wants to see you now that you are awake. We have to discuss what is going to happen to him and what needs to be done about Killer B."

"Oh," I said, "Did you guys tell Kori of her condition?"

"No," said Itachi, "Before you go beserk, they are going to kill Danzo while they are at it. So she shouldn't find out."

"You better pray she doesn't find herself in a bind," I said getting out of bed, "So how are my lungs?"

"They are fully recovered," said Hidan.

"How would you know?" I asked. Hidan just smiled and I blushed covering myself, "You pervert!"

"Easy. Don't go all bitch on me. Your charts say so," said Hidan picking up the chart and tapping it on the foot of my bed.

"Oh," I blushed even deeper.

I got up, after shooing the boys out and got dressed. After that I made my way up to Gaara's Office. When I got there, he was standing outside looking at the sky. I cleared my throat and he turned around.

"Ah," he said, "I heard you wake up."

"Oh, sorry about that. Two people spooked me that is all," I said looking away in embarrassment, "So um, you needed me?"

"Yes," he said walking over to his desk, "I need to know if it is safe to bring my people back home. Plus I believe I have found an easy way to get Killer B to hear you out. I have sent a message to the Raikage, telling him about the situation and have you personally gather him. I can't exactly leave my position here. With my siblings and Deidara here, it shouldn't be a problem for you, Itachi, Hidan, and Kisame to go and try and intercept any attack. Granted I would keep the former in the shadows until necessary."

"That sounds alright," I said, "I would also like for you to call a meeting for all Kage. We need to inform them about the full extent of the danger we are in. We don't know how many the Akatsuki have.."

"Three, Four, Five, Two, and Seven-Tails," said Hidan, "But Tobi told us he would start to gather the rest."

"Fuck," I cursed, "Great. We need the other villages to protect their jinchuriki but I doubt the messages would get there fast enough."

"I suggest you don't waste anymore time," suggested Gaara, "I will try and get the other Kage to listen to my request and hold a meeting. This can't go on any longer if you believe this Madara is a true threat."

"Alright," said Itachi, "Are you fit enough to travel?"

"I should be, but I don't know," I said, "I may get winded."

"You fall behind and I will keep stabbing you until you catch up," smiled Hidan.

"Yes!" I squeaked.

"You and Kori are so different," said Hidan.

"She isn't afraid of dying...I think she has a immortal complex, which I hope she breaks soon," I sighed.

Hidan laughed, "That was amusing. So ready to leave or can I begin stabbing you to relieve my frustration?"

Itachi, Kisame, and Deidara sighed before we got ready and left for the Land of Lightning.

**Konoha**

**Kori's POV**

Sakura was already behind me and pretty much tossed me aside as she worked on Sasuke. I could only sit there and watch. Between Naruto's mental breakdown and Sasuke's friendly, and hopefully not last, act. Hinata grabbed me from my position and jerked me out of the way from a vacuum bullet sent by none other than the bastard bitch himself, Danzo. He attempted to lock us down with his Funinjutsu, and when that wouldn't work, he aimed directly for Sakura. Using my body as a shield I was hit head on by his attack and was paralyzed. Sai, who was absent up to this point, jumped in front of Danzo and deflected an attack.

"Why?" Sai asked.

"I didn't realize how far your corruption went Sai," said Danzo, now with a few Root members appearing behind him, "Kill them all."

Hinata and Sai did their best to defend me, Sasuke, and Sakura but they were outnumbered. As if called on cue, Team Gai arrived to save the day. Gai took on Danzo himself, to keep the bastard from trying to seal us again while Neji, Tenten, and Lee helped Hinata and Sai. When all the Root members were defeated, all but Neji went to assist Gai. Neji looked me over with his Byakugan and he looked distressed. Picking me up he cradled me in his arms.

"What did you get yourself into this time?" he said brushing my hair out of my face.

Since only my right side was paralyzed I answered, "You know the usual. They need you. I am fine."

"Sakura," asked Neji, "How much time do you need?"

"Not much, thankfully the rod didn't pierce his heart...he was extremely lucky. It will take time to heal him though," she said concentrating.

"My regen kanji," I said picking up my arm and tossing it at her, "Transfer it. Cut my skin off if you have to."

"Kori!" said Neji distressed, "You can't be seriously thinking that!"

"I caused it," I said tears stinging my eyes.

"Shh," he whispered hugging me and looking at Sakura, whatever she mouthed Neji hugged me tighter, "Where is Starke?"

"Around," I said, "If he doesn't return soon he will- ACK!" About that time I felt the sting of the tattoo being removed, "Jesus Sakura...painkillers!"

"I can knock you out," she suggested.

"Eh, pain tells you that you live. I think I am developing a masochistic streak," I joked.

"Developing?" teased Neji, "You have always had that. Shit...I have to get up. Danzo has beaten Lee and Tenten."

Neji reluctantly placed me back on the ground and turned to watch Danzo aim to kill his cousin. With a quick movement Neji sent a Hakke Kūshō attack at Danzo's back, but the wrinkly fuck dodged it.

"Sharringan," I said as loud as I could wincing, "He has them all over."

"Alright..." before Neji turned back to me, "Where is Naruto?"

I pointed up at the now massive ball of earth dangling over us, "In there probably speaking with his parents...don't worry he will come back."

"The Nine-Tails!" gasped Neji as he looked up at the ball, "Are you sure this is temporary?"

"Done," interrupted Sakrua, "How long will it take?"

"Since the chakra is already in the tattoo, not long...as for your question Neji, yes...Kyuubi's form is only temp. He has to see this so I can pack his bags and send him to boot camp with Killer B," I sighed looking at my surprisingly unscathed arm.

I watched as one by one my friends fell to Danzo. It wasn't that they were weak, the bastard had already activated his Sharringan on his arm. Thankfully he didn't kill them, he was intent on getting to me and Sasuke right now. In a suprise move, I watched a puddle of water engulf Danzo while the Kubikiribōchō seemed to be acting on its own and slicing Danzo's limbs off before cutting off his head. When that was finished, Suigetsu reformed.

"Holy shit!" I gasped, along with Neji, Sakura, and the rest of the bunch.

However the would-be kill was a fake, Danzo used the Izanagi, which I was very curious on how he managed to pull that shit off, right before it hit me. He must have activated all his Sharringan before hand, and I was too stupid to notice the missing arm brace thingy.

"FUCK!" I cried, "Ten minutes of this bullshit! We are fucked, we are _so _fucked."

"What?" asked Neji, who was the only able to fight other than Sakura.

"We can't kill him for ten minutes!" I cried.

_PUP!_

I turned towards Starke's voice and heard the cries of a wolf being killed as ink splattered my face. Starke had jumped in front of Danzo before he could stab me in the back of the neck with his sword.

"Starke!" I cried before Danzo flung Starke's body away.

Sakura lept up and tried punching him, but it was no use. She smashed his head in and he just reformed and took her, myself, and Neji out with a Fūton: Shinkūha. With us injured and unable to help, he turned to Sasuke. I tried getting up and moving but my body was half paralyzed and cut to shit. Crawling I watched as Danzo raised his sword and struck down...my vision was blurry and I could feel unconsiousness creep up on me...I just prayed that bastard missed. I woke up sometime later in water...I sat up coughing up a friggin storm. After catching my breath I looked around me. There was a tunnel and a light...something was tugging me towards the light..Fuck. I was dead..Frustrated I stomped towards the light, feeling an odd since of famiarity with this place.

**No Pov**

Naruto was inside himself. Kyubi was asking him to give up his soul to take revenge and take away all his pain, and kill those who caused it. After having witnessed his best friend being stabbed and his friends hurt, he was about to take away the seal when a hand stopped him. There stood Minato.

"You!" said the Kyubi with malice, "Come closer so I can rip you apart."

**Kori's POV**

**(A/N: I couldn't resist...it would be too funny. I apologize.)**

I could hear voices and ran towards them. Though I did manage to unceromoniously trip and skid face first through the water into a very squishy wall. I popped my head out of the water and felt up with one hand while the other was busy getting my hair and water out of my eyes. This wall had knees and hips and a coat? _Why would a wall have a coat...wait that isn't a wall _I thought as I opened my eyes to see Naruto, Minato, and Kyubi looking at me.

"HOLY SHIT WHAT THE FUCK WHY?" I said scrambling with new found agility to an actual wall, "How the hell and I here?"

"Kori?" yelled Naruto in suprise.

"Hey Naruto," I said slowly using the wall to lift myself up, "Um Danzo just handed my ass to me and er...I think Sasuke is fine but I am out cold...and I woke up here and...hey! PUPPY!" I went up to the cell, just out of reach to Kyubi, "Like, holy hell, forgive my random act of ditz but you are the fucking Nine-Tails. You are awesome, except for the kill blow up stabby BOOM! Thanks for helping Naruto...but bad puppy for trying to get Naruto to let you out."

"Who is she?" asked Minato.

"I am Kori of Konoha!" I said proudly turning to Minato, "And it is nice to meet you sir, but you and Naruto need to chat...I wanna poke him...Kyubi that is...Min- Mister can I hug you?"

"What were you about to say?" asked Naruto.

"Um...I ...nothing," I said looking innocent before spastically hugging Minato, "You are awesome and I wish I could have met you when you weren't all ghostly. Tell a certain red head I said hi when you see her. I have been trying to help with the hell that has become outside and I am going to shut up now and let you talk with er...you know."

"How are you here?" asked Minato.

"Er. I can go into people's heads...but this is inner Naruto..I guess I have always been able to go into Inner Worlds...I think...I helped Sasuke that way and er, " I said nervously, "Big fan of your work Mister I-know-who-you-are-but-I-ain't-telling-until-you-say-so. I came to Konoha two years ago and I knew a lot of things and have been using that to help outside. I am going to try and find an exit while you two chat."

"Are you one of Naruto's friends?" asked Minato.

"Well, he hasn't known me long...Would you call me a friend Naruto?" I asked.

"Y-yeah," said Naruto coming out of his stupor.

"Cool! Oh Pein is in the tallest place near Konoha when you get your ass out of here," I said jumping up and down, releasing Minato, "Alright...know an exit?"

I then watched Minato and Naruto poof as I looked back at Kyubi who was glaring at me.

"Watch it mutt," I threatened, "If you don't behave and stop trying to posses Naruto, I will turn you into a cheap version knock off of a Care Bear."

"What is a Care Bear?" Kyubi asked.

I then began to explain in full detail and watched as Kyubi's face went to disgust as told him what a Care Bear was. Before long I asked him twenty or so questions before I felt a tugging at my chest. I smiled up at Kyubi and waved him good-bye.

"Guess my knock out round is up...good seeing you Kyubi. Love you!" I said closing my eyes, just in case some freaking sci-fi bull shit was going to happen.

I woke up with Tsunade standing over me. She was healing me and smiled as I was shocked into the sit up position. Looking around I gasped and tried to wrap my mind around what happened.

"Okay two questions: Am I dead? Is Danzo dead?" I said.

"No and no," said Tsunade, "I was summoned here along with Jiraiya just in time to stop Sasuke from being killed. Sasuke woke up sometime after we were facing Danzo and asked us to look after you while he took care of Danzo."

"Sweet," I said before frowning as I still saw the sealing jutusu on my body, "Fuck...Um where is Starke?"

"Your tattoo?" asked Tsunade, "On your shoulder where he belongs. I couldn't heal him but I managed to return him."

"Anyone dying?" I asked.

"No Katsuyu and I are helping all we can," she said.

"Shit!" I exclaimed, "If you keep this up then you will go into a coma!"

"These are my people!" she yelled at me, "But I must thank you for keeping injuries and casuallties lower than they would have been if not for you."

"Am I owed a beating?" I winced.

"Later," she said, "Now lay down."

"Er, not if Sasuke is going to continue living," I said getting up and hobbling over to where the scuffle was being fought, "Danzo will kamakazie if he belives he has lost."

"Jiraiya will handle it then," she said jerking me back to the ground.

**No POV**

Sasuke was having trouble dealing with Danzo. He had already managed to injure him but the old man was quick, and just outright refused to die. Sasuke had managed to wear Danzo down to only one Sharringan remained. Danzo had managed to coner Sasuke and belived he had the boy trapped while he tried to deal a death blow. However his 'victory' was short lived as he realized Sasuke had instead trapped Danzo by using the Sharringan. Instead of stabbing him, Sasuke simply cut Danzo's to peices, _slowly,_ as the last of the Sharringan on his arm closed for good. Meanwhile nearby, Jiraiya was concerned about the Tailed form appearing but needed to focus on assisting Sasuke. As Sasuke finished off Danzo, he was a little worried about the apparent overkill of how Danzo died.

Sausuke couldn't lie when he said he enjoyed killing Danzo. That bastard got what he deserved and so would Madara when they caught up to him, but he had something better to do other than listen to Danzo scream...so this fate of his was quick compared to what Sasuke thought was a fitting death. Sasuke watched as Naruto fell from the mass of earth and began to speed off somewhere. Narrowing his eyes, which were now bleeding due to the strain from the Mangekyō Sharingan, he gathered the body of Danzo and went back to see if there was something Kori would like to say.

**Kori's POV**

I felt different and looked down and saw the stupid seals were gone. I silently cheered Sasuke. I felt a tug in my head.

_Starke?_

_You owe me..big time...I can finally sleep now._

_If I figured out how to make ya permenant?_

_Impossible. Tempting though._

_I specialize in the impossible._

Not a moment later Sasuke dropped the severed arm and head of Danzo in front of me. I squeaked slightly because I was previously lost in thought. He looked down at me and narrowed his eyes.

"Want to tell me why I just saw Naruto rush off?" asked Sasuke.

"Er, odd story," I said before explaining my out of body experiance, "So yeah. Great you brought Danzo back..I need the eye...keep it safe. I think Itachi should decide what to do with the other eye of Shisui. Though it would be fitting if you got it Sasuke. Since Danzo stole it...you can reclaim it."

"Could you do it?" asked Sasuke.

"Psht," I said, "Easy peezy. Though you would not be able to fight for a while."

"Will Naruto be alright?" he asked.

"Yeah," I said, "I can't save Nagato...he is lost...to me but Naruto can save him..Jiraiya, you need to be with Naruto. As for you Uchiha..there is a certain pink haired med-nin who would just be tickled her hair color to wake up seeing you. As for me I have to get to my boyfriend and cuddle him 'till he wakes up. So Tsunade? Can you please for the love of god take away that stupid kill on sight thing...and make sure it wasn't passed to other villages. I would hate to be attacked everywhere. My luck is going to run out."

Tsunade just narrowed her eyes at me, "Don't get smart with me!"

"Yes mom," I said before getting smacked to Neji's locaiton, "Worth it."

I sat there and waited for Neji to wake up, gently stroking his hair while I nervously thought about Naruto. I really hoped he faired alright. When Neji woke up I smiled down at him. He grabbed me by the back of the neck and proceeded to cut off my ability to breathe with a kiss, and boy could Neji kiss. After I had to pry myself off before passing out he looked up.

"I missed you, but keep the stupid ideas to a minimum," he said smiling.

"But!" I said continuing the joke, "Those are my only good ones."

He laughed, "So does this mean Dazno is dead?"

"Dude his head is right over there!" I said pointing, "Want to see?"

"I'll pass," he said paling, "Where is Yuki?"

"Still in Suna last time I checked, I kinda got her hurt and Sai is making up for it," I smiled before snuggling up to Neji, "Nap time..Wake me when Naruto comes back."

"How do you know he will?" asked Neji.

"That boy does more impossible things than I do," I smiled, "He will make it."

* * *

**J****ūho Sōshiken****: Gentle Step Twin Lion Fists- **The user forms two large lion-shaped shrouds of chakra around their hands, then attacks the opponent with them. Though its full power was not shown in the manga, in the anime, it was shown that this technique has enough power to destroy Pain's chakra rods, as well as momentarily stunning the target after the attack lands.

* I know Jugo is the reason that Orochimaru had the Cursed Seal in the first place but they call it that anyways...so yeah.

**Izanagi **is a genjutsu that is cast on the user instead of others and is the most powerful amongst this type of genjutsu. When activated, the caster removes the boundaries between reality and illusion within their personal space. To a degree this allows the user to control their own state of existence. It is normally only active for the briefest of moments.

This technique is capable of turning injuries and even death inflicted upon the user into mere illusions. Whenever the user receives a fatal injury, he or she automatically fades away as though they were an illusion all along and then returns back to reality; physically real and unscathed.

**F****ūton: Shinkūha****- Wind Release: Vaccume Wave- **The user takes a deep breath and spins while exhaling, compressing the released air into a solitary blade of wind that covers a substantial area around the user, due to their circular motion. The resulting sharpened blast is large enough to slice through multiple targets located a significant distance from the user, causing grievous injuries amongst those hit, which may even prove fatal.

**Musical Insparation** this chappy...well what I think anyway..you may or may not agree.

Danzo's Death: Lights Out- Breaking Benjamin

Sasuke's/Kori's Disposition (the song could go either way): Shadows- Red

Kyubi/Naruto Relationship: Fight Inside-Red

* * *

**Sukaretto Miyuki: **Two posts of yours to reply to..Okay. Yeah I am glad you gagged with the Danzo smile..that move appears to be effective to make people go blech. Yes, I kinda wanted the 'mine' thing that Neji has going on to be a slight running min-gag when I can't think of something, but with all the stuff I am coming up with..I doubt I will have to use it much. Yes I am glad you like Starke, just don't hate me for injuring him...T.T. Yes I told you guys things will be like this..don't worry they will catch a break soon. Yeah don't worry about Kankuro, he will have the puppet fixed in no time...plus the scrolls of Sasori's parents..Oh yeah that Sexy no jutsu is convieniently saved in my folder of eye candy goodness...though I had to rename it because my boyfriend opened the folder because it was once labeled Hot Men...and he was scarred. Well as for Suigetsu and Sasuke working with Kisame and Itachi, I think it works...they were supposed to kill them in the cannon, though Suigetsu's was more a wish. Sai was just following orders...T.T sorry. Well I figured I will use Hidan and Deidara as comic relief since they were sort of in the Cannon. Just hope Neji doesn'g find out...

**gunitatsuhiko: **Okay glad you like it, and I know you will wanna read more...it is good fun. They will get a break soon..P-wah-mise!

**ThorLuvR: **Well as fast paced as the current action is..it is hard to write anything else. I will probably give them a good break before going back to any action. I am getting a bit out of balance with this one...so yeah. Well hm..maybe a relationship chappy or a Summer Omake thing may be in order to give more relationship air-time..lol. I when I write, I write. I usually focus on getting a chappy down and begin starting on another if I have time before bed. During the weekends I am free so I have more time to knock down chappies.

**Alpenwolf: **You are most welcome love. Lol, yes I am turning the Akatsuki into pretty much Robin Hood but much better...I think. I am working on the Pein thing...I need to hammer out finer details. As you can see...To me normal is eating, breathing, and sleeping...I mean we all are born and we all die...I don't really like normalcy, or at least what society considers normal, though the society I live in is WAY different from yours. On some subjects I agree with Germany and practically everywhere else, but I don't know much about everywhere else. OMG, could you? I would friggen use that as my screensaver..or background...though I don't think I could replace Sephiroth...hmm. My eyes are pleased with the pic of him fixing to attack Cloud in Advent Children Complete where he has the one wing out.

* * *

**River: **Okay I couldn't fit in everything but I hope my readers are pleased...Danzo is dead! Tsunade and Jiraiya are back in Konoha, and hopefully I can get to the Land of Earth and what happens to Pein next chapter. Since not really anyone died in this chapter, civilian wise, then Nagato shouldn't use so much energy...I apologize for killing Asuma and Kakashi...no they aren't permanently dead...I know better than to keep that from you readers, least I want an all caps montage of reviews to read. So yeah the people in Konoha need to recover and all that jazz before we can get to the Kage summit so one chapter we should be able to get a nice break for everyone to be affectionate.

**Comming Soon: **

Land of Lightning- Recruitment of Killer B?

Shisui's Eye: We can't let Madara have it..So does Sasuke agree?

Nagato's Fate- Can Naruto save him?

The break that they deserve...seriously...**  
**


	34. Chapter 34: Keeping Them Safe

**Konoha**

**No POV**

They had exchanged words, both talking about their lives. Naruto was still trying to convince Nagato that he was in the right. Both had valid points, but Naruto wasn't going to back down. He had people who believed in him and now it was time to make them proud.

"If you don't share someone's pain, you can never understand them. But just because you understand them doesn't mean you can come to an agreement. That's the truth," said Nagato.

Naruto was sitting there talking with Nagato when Jiraiya entered the paper structure. Seeing what his former student had become, Jiraiya tried to keep his mask up but the emotions he held could still be seen.

"Disappointed?" asked Nagato.

"No, and yes. After everything I have taught you..This is what you use it for?" asked Jiraiya.

"I am doing what I can to end the cycle of hate, but it would seem that I have failed," coughed Nagato.

"Nagato!" said Jiraiya with honest concern, "You need help."

"Help?" wheezed Nagato, "For what?"

"You are ill," said Jiraiya, "Whatever you did to obtain this power is killing you. Even if you did not see what I was once trying to teach you, I still remember you as that orphan, growing up. Though I am not your father, I can not watch someone I care about die. I once had to face a pupil of mine die so he could protect the village, leaving behind his most precious possession in my care. Now I look at two of my precious pupils and see my failure. Please Nagato, do not make me have to live through another death."

Nagato was taken back by Jiraiya's words, "You belive you failed? Ha! You did no such thing. I was the one who failed. I allowed my friend to die, constrcuted this Akatsuki organization, attacked your village, destroyed lives, and when I was prepared to die, your student Naruto could not kill me. He is what I should have become...do not blame yourself for my mistakes."

"Pein...Nagato," said Naruto, "You see your life as a book, now how about we change the ending of this story...All of us are together, master and students...maybe we can end this hatred."

"No, I can not," said Nagato, "Not after all I have done. You have to end it. When I was a failure, perhaps you will succeed."

"Yes you can," said Jiraiya, "I have lived long enough to watch men change their fate for better or worse. There are many things you can not take back, but if you sit here in misery you will only prove that I was a failure in teaching you. There is _always_ another way."

"Perhaps," said Nagato before turning to Naruto, "You are an odd kid… You remind me of myself when I was young… I couldn't believe in what Jiraiya believed in… nor believe in myself… but you chose a different path. In you I can see another future. I… will believe in you…"

"What will you do?" asked Naruto.

"Return the lives I have destroyed for starters," said Nagato.

"No," said Konan, "It will kill you."

"Konan," he smiled at her, "By fate, god, or chance the destruction of the village was mostly just empty buildings...The casualty rate of its people is low...This will not take much chakra."

"Before you do.." said Naruto, "I have three medical nin that would possibly help you."

"Well we know Kori would, Tsunade may not, and Sakura is still pissed about Sasuke," said Jiraiya.

**Kori's POV**

I was just about to drift off to sleep when the warmth that was curled around me disappeared. I opened my eyes and began yelling, pissed at who took my cuddles away.

"Son of a bitch!" I cursed looking around to find Nagato, Jiraiya, Naruto, and Konan, "Oh..sorry. Um why the fuck am I here?"

"Nagato is sick," said Naruto pointing over his shoulder.

"Yeah life stealing jutsus will do that to you..I can't resurrect him if he keels over man," I sighed, "I am exhausted from facing and getting pwned by Danzo...and I just recovered. I have zero chakra.."

"What about those tattoo thingies?" asked Naruto.

"Well you could transfer the kanji but mine are for healing strictly...I can't give him the chakra," I said, "Summoning me here was a mistake. The only thing I can do is sap some chakra out of my other tattoos but there is a chance that the effects of them would hit me...I do carry posions on me..if they hit me..I will be down and out for a while."

"So this is the girl Tobi told me to find," said Nagato.

"Ek!" I squeaked jumping behind Naruto, "I didn't do it, you can't prove it." I then mentally slapped myself before coming out of hiding, "Sorry habit. Hi Nagato...I am Kori, usually I hug the living lights out of people when I meet them but it is hard to hug you around that thingy you use to move and all those rods...so...AIR HUG!"

I darted close to him and hugged one of the legs of the machine he was using..then proceeded to hug Konan. They both looked at me in surprise.

"Why do you act so friendly toward me?" asked Konan.

"Er," I thought about it, "Why not. I understand all the things you did and why I can't say I agree..I can say that I am here for you now. Well Naruto...are you ready to do some butt kickin' saving?"

"Nani?" asked Naruto.

"Well when this is over...there's a lot of people waiting for you. Go on ahead...I will see what I can do on this end," I told him, "You too Jiraiya."

Naruto and Jiraiya reluctantly left and I stood there for a moment. Perhaps I was waiting for them not to trust me...but they never came back. Tears stung my eyes again as I turned and sat down in the corner huffing. I looked up at both of them an weakly smiled.

"I better get started," I said picking myself up.

"You seemed so cheerful...," said Konan.

"Misplaced smiles, half hearted feelings. I thought I could handle it, but with everything that has happened, I feel it," I sighed looking over Nagato, "I have to give the kid credit. He managed to reson with you where I most likely could not. I have dealt with enough darkness to fill my life with it seven times over. I think I can help but this is going to hurt, me more than you. I don't know if it will work but when I touch people I can go in and help from there. Just don't kill me."

"Kill you?" asked Nagato.

"Well minds are funny so is everything else about a person," I said, "Okay...um your subconscious will try to rid me unless you co-operate..I promise nothing will happen. Any who I promised that I would try to help...so lets get this going."

I touched Nagato's hand and what little chakra I had saved so far was used to get into Nagato's mind. It wasn't so bad, just a replica of Ame..with a few changes. There ahead of where Nagato and I were Konan and Yahiko were together smiling with the world at peace. I wanted to cry because in Nagato's mind the things he was doing was a good thing and everything was bright and calm. I didn't want to change him, I just needed to give him some chakra. Setting myself down I took a small kunai and made small cuts on my tattoos so the chakra would bleed out, careful not to touch any of the poison ones.

"What are you doing?" asked Nagato.

"Hopefully giving you the boost you need, this is the very last of my chakra, minus the poison kanji and Starke...I will be asleep for a while after this," I said, "I hope this place becomes a reality Nagato..it is beautiful. All the hope...buried deep. You may not believe in yourself but after seeing this...I believe in you."

After I gave him the remainder of my chakra he used the Gedō: Rinne Tensei no Jutsu. It seemed that it wasn't enough the King of Hell appeared and gripped me with the tentacle things and seemed to sap my energy away.

"Oh fuck no," I hissed as I grabbed a kunai.

"Stop," warred Nagato.

"What do you want to let it kill me?" I asked.

"It has me too," he said.

After what seemed like forever I was very weak but the King of Hell released both of us as I was kicked out of Nagato's mind. I woke up in the outside world and couldn't actually move. I could keep conscious though. Konan was looking over Nagato who was out cold but breathing. She could only look at me and smiled. I was probably sickly looking and was really hungry.

"I have the munchies," I said weakly, "That King of Hell is a bastard."

**No POV**

Naruto landed in the middle of the crater and looked around. All the former dead were back and well, now gathering behind those who were nearby. There surrounding him were the remainder of the citizens who didn't make it out of Konoha, his friends, and all the shinobi who defended their home. They cheered him on as he really was the one who stopped Pein. They finally acknowledged him the way he always wanted. After the villagers put him down he heard various things.

"Thanks Naruto."

"We knew you could do it."

Other things were yelled but Naruto's focus was on Sakura, Sasuke, Hinata and the others. When the villagers let him down he beelined over to his friends. He hugged Sasuke.

"I thought you were dead," said Naruto, "Did Pein bring you back?"

"No, Sakura and Kori healed me," he said looking around, "Where is she?"

"She was with me and Jiraiya," said Naruto, "I wondered if anything happened to her?"

Neji immediately grabbed Naruto,"Where?"

"Um, there," said Naruto pointing to where Kori was.

"Please don't leave Kori to do things, she really doesn't chose the best of options," sighed Neji, "Do you mind if we retrive her? If she is in any less condition than perfect, I will Hakke Hasangeki you so far into the ground it will take months of a Earth Style user to dig you out."

"Neji!" said Hinata in a scolding manner.

"Fine," scoffed Neji, "I will only cut off half his chakra points."

"Neji!" she yelled.

Naruto nodded, not wanting to have to fight Neji again. Gathering a group, Sasuke, Naruto, Sakura, Neji, and Hinata headed off to find Kori on the floor of the building that Konan made. She eyed them and gave a thumbs up.

"Hey," she said smiling and holding up a thumb, "What took ya?"

"Kori..." said Neji scooping her up, and giving Naruto the death stare, "What happened?"

"Er, never going into someone again...it sucks," she laughed, "Literally."

"Please be more careful," said Neji hugging her before looking up to find Nagato, "Is this who attacked Konoha?"

"Yep and he is on our side...we'll Naruto's side.." Kori babbled on, "Alright I need a _long deserved _nap."

**Land of Wind**

**Yuki's Pov**

Hidan, Itachi, Kisame, and I were en route to gather Killer B, or at least talk to him. I'd left Gaara in the hands of Deidara, which to me wasn't the best idea in the world..I wouldn't trust Deidara with a lighter, but I guess that came from the fact he was practically a walking bomb. After a few days of travel we were, back in the Land of Fire. Since it wouldn't be too much trouble to stop by and see what Kori's meddling caused. We got there and I was personally grabbed by ANBU, along with everyone else. I was getting worried. I had to tell the others not to fight in case it was a misunderstanding, or something along those lines.

"Um," I asked nervously, "Is there a problem?"

We then appeard in Tsunade's office now occupied by Sasuke, Naruto, Neji, Shikamaru, Itachi, Hidan, Kisame, Kakashi, Sai, Tsunade, Jiraiya, and myself. I looked around and didn't find my sister. I sighed.

"Good to see you Tsunade, but please tell me she isn't dead," I sighed.

"No she is resting," said Tsunade, "Exaustion has caught up with her. As you can see we managed to fend off Pein's attack. He is in bad condition but alive. We are trying to work on rehabilitate him, since Kori warned us that he had to stay alive and protected so Madara couldn't get his eyes. Danzo is no more and we are working on trying to rebuild Konoha."

"So things went well?" asked Itachi,"Sasuke, what happened to your eye?"

"Danzo had Shisui's eye.." said Sasuke, "Kori told me to keep it safe."

"I see," said Itachi, "So our clan can rest now."

"Can I see her?" I asked.

"That wouldn't be a good idea," said Tsunade, "It is best to let her rest."

"I see," I said before walking over to Shikamaru, "Hey love."

"This isn't a social visit," reminded Shikamaru, "Good to see you alive though."

"Right," I remembered, "Um, Gaara is going to try and get the Kages to meet so we can prepare for Madara, right now I am on my way to see Killer B."

"I see," said Tsunade, "Well then I shall not keep you. However, it isn't a good idea for wanted criminals to be seen in my office. You have to find somewhere for them."

"Er, my apartment is too small," I said.

"The Uchiha Compound. It still stands," said Itachi, "If no one frequents there, it should be suitable."

"Then I shall make sure that no one bothers you," said Tsunade, "Though it is surprising to see former Akatsuki members in my office and trying not to kill me."

"Un," said Itachi, "I would have never fathomed being able to visit my old home but here I am. I guess things change."

"Well if Nagato is taken care of and Danzo is gone..." I said thinking, "Well, I suppose I need to get a better equipped team together. Hidan is going for sure, but I don't know if we can expect company or not. I need a balance of ranges and single to multiple targets. Killer B isn't our problem it is A who we need to worry about."

"Okay," said Tsunade, "Continue."

"Well B and Nii were Kumo's protectors and well on the way I was here...I was told Nii was captured, and well if she was then B shouldn't be far behind," I said.

"Move out and take anyone you need," said Tsunade, "I won't allow Madara to capture another person."

"Glad you feel that way Godaime," I bowed, "Hidan, Itachi, Shikamaru, Jugo, ready?"

"Why us?" asked Jugo.

"Jugo you can be our back up healer for now, I can't take any water users like Suigetsu or Kisame because of A's Lightning Armor, I need someone fast and capable of trapping him which is why Itachi and Shikamaru are here. Hidan is coming with as a wild card, besides if we run into Madara, we will need everyone here," I answered.

"You will need a sensor shinobi," said Tsunade, "I would suggest placing one in your team."

"Neji?" I asked.

"Take me," said a shinobi that entered the room.

"Ah, Fu*, you are here," said Tsunade, "Since Danzo's death..the former Root members apparently have fallen under my command."

"Intresting turn of events," I said, "Alright Fu. Let's go."

Fu stopped me. "Girl. I am under orders to protect you while you retrieve B. However I do not like the fact that those people are here," he said pointing to Itachi, Hidan, Kisame, Sasuke, Jugo, and Suigetsu.

"Er, sorry?" I said confused about his intentions, "I can't help it..You can't kill them either. Don't be stupid like Danzo. It will save your life one day."

After the exchange our odd group headed out to the Land of Lightning. Once we reached the gates only Fu, Shikamaru, and I were there. We were escorted to the Raikage's Office. There A was towering above us and glaring.

"Raikage," I spoke, "I am-"

"I know who you are!" he yelled, making me jump slightly, "I was informed of what you came here to do."

"So.." I said trying to stall for time, "I take it you are either going to kill us or tell us to shove it."

"That is a very good idea," said A.

"Er, we don't wanna take him! We just have to make sure he is safe that is all!" I said, voice squeaking, "Look Madara is after jinchuriki...there has to be a place that they can go and be safe."

"He is safe here," A told us firmly.

"There isn't any _other _place?" I tried to hint.

"There is one," said A.

"Whew," I sighed, "And here I thought I was going to have to kidnap him...Anyway. Tell B he is going on vacation...he'd like that a lot. Naruto and Gaara will be escorted there soon."

"You planned to take B?" asked A, glaring not only daggers but full sized swords.

"Well after we all escaped here alive...that was my intention...to ask B to join us and go to Turtle Island," I told him, "Right now we need to keep a certain someone on our end occupied."

"I received the message. We were given a few weeks to get our guard and head to the Land of Iron," said A, "Will my little brother be safe?"

"As far as I know," I said being honest, "They are safe on the Island."

"B should be back soon," said A before turning, "Now leave before I decide that keeping your meddling selves alive was a bad idea. Even here in the Land of Lightning we have heard of your exploits, and that of your sister."

"Which ones?" I asked hoping the recent ones hadn't been told.

"In one year passing to Chunin, with little experience, a year later one is a jonin while the other teaches. It is said that you can predict the future. One of you can destroy things with your voice while the other reads minds. Rumors of you amassing a private army of criminals is one of them too, and that you were captured and put to death by Konohagakure's newest Kage, but I believe that isn't true seeing as you are here," he went on.

"Yeah, silly rumors," I said nervously, "Danzo, posioned Tsunade to take over Konoha. He was being used and is now dead, with Tsunade back in office. She sent us here...well Gaara sent us here but...um...I think I shall take my leave now."

"I hope that no other rumors pass that tells me you are working for the Akatsuki," he said, "If so, true or not, I will hunt you down and rip out your spine."

"Good to know," I said before quickly retreating, preventing Shikamaru from being all protective.

Now our task was to get Gaara to Turtle Island safely. I sent a message to Tsunade telling her of everything, while gathering Kisame, Itachi, and Hidan. I sighed and looked at them.

"Well A said he was going to send B to Turtle Island, but I don't know if he will or not, so you three have to stay back and make sure that happens...though if you are spotted, most everyone will try to kill you. So be careful," I said, "I will head back this way once we have Gaara. With most of the Akatsuki on our side, Madara will need time to gather the Tailed Beasts, hopefully we can find him before anything else happens."

"When does the killing start, Jashin is getting impatient," said Hidan.

"Well if you are met on hostile terms, and there is no other way, kill to your hearts content," I said, "Now I must be off."

After separating I began to make my way back to Suna, with Shikamaru and Fu. Hopefully nothing went wrong while I was away.

**Konoha**

**Kori's POV**

I woke up in the Hyuga Compound confused as hell. Last time I was conscious I was in the arms of Neji, in the paper tree thing. I went to move and found my body stiff, but I was able to get up. Looking around I tried to get my bearings. I was about to get up and open the door when it opened by itself. One who belives in ghosts, I flipped out.

"Ek!" I squeaked hiding myself in the covers of my bed. Not that it would help but it made me feel better.

"You are awake," said Neji's voice.

I popped out from under the covers, hearts in my eyes, jumped up, and in one swift movement landed on Neji, causing both of us to hit the floor, "NEJI!"

"You would be in real trouble if I started to sidestep all those tackle hugs," Neji said out from under me.

"Don't care," I said very happily, "Cuddles."

Neji laughed, "Is that all you think about?"

"Pretty much," I said sitting up and looking down at him, "I try not to think about anything else. So how long have I been out?"

"Three days," he answered.

"Three whole days!" I said spazzing out, "Omigah. How is everyone? Where are the others? Is everyone safe?"

"Sasuke and the others are at the Uchiha Compound, which was ordered by Tsunade as a no trespassing zone due to dangerous circumstances. She convinced the village the place was falling apart without proper care, so only a handful of us are allowed in and out, under the assumption we are checking for problems," he answered, "Yuki was here not too long ago. She should be in Kumo by now dealing with the Raikage. The one called Nagato is under the medical care of a Ame med-nin called Miyuki, who was called here by Konan. You, however have a lot of apologizing to do for being so reckless."

I kissed him, "I am soooo sowwry."

"Not to me," he said, "There are others who are attached to you. You will make it up to me later."

"Hmm?" I said pervy senses kicking in, "And how will I make it up to you?"

"It is a surprise," he smiled.

"Uh-oh," I said backing off, "I don't like that grin. You are evil...totally evil..," I said before he simply pushed me off, shut the door and took off his shirt, "Evil...abs...chest...skin...body...huur."

"My punishment is to refuse you cuddles," he said now stretching showing off his toned body.

I took the pouncing position, "Oh I don't mind...but um...honey. I have been asleep for a long time.."

He then proceeded to take away my eye candy by putting his shirt on and begin walking past me. I glared at his back. My pigments were not anywhere in sight, but that boy was seriously painting a 'rape me' sign on his back as he used his perfect ass in the most sensual way possible. If one were to see me seconds before tackling him, through the now open door and almost into the room, they would have saw a drooling girl with the look in here eye similar to a wolf looking at a sheep. After tackling him, I tossed the boy inside, shut the door, and pounced on him.

"Ahh!" he said now struggling to save himself from his ravenous girlfriend who was about to rip his clothes off.

"You deserve it," I beamed, "Now hold still."

**No POV**

Naruto was in the halls of the Hyuga Compound trying to figure out where Hinata was exactly. She told him to meet her in the tea room but which one was beyond him. He turned a random corner and heard sounds of a scuffle along with a muffled girl's voice. Not thinking he ran to the room and opened the door to find mostly naked Kori, wrestling the pants off of Neji.

"N-naruto!" said Neji, embarrassed.

Kori turned and glared, "If you do not leave this room, shut the door, and forget you saw this..I will rip off your limbs, beat you with them until you are unconscious, and then sew them back on."

"H-hai," said Naruto paling and quickly following Kori's orders. He was tempted to save Neji, but for some reason, kunochi from Konoha were more fierce and scarier than his enemies, and he didn't want to risk it.

His face was still red from the incident by the time he got to where Hinata really was. She asked him about it but the threat of bodily harm was still fresh in his mind. Brushing it off and laughing, the quickly changed the subject and followed Hinata to the tea room.

**Suna**

**Few Days Later**

**Yuki POV**

We had arrived at Suna, and thankfully everyone was now back in the village and it seemed like there wasn't anything unusual going on. Which by my calculations mean something very, very, wrong has happened. I darted up to where Gaara's office was to find Deidara pacing around having what looked like a rant.

"Do what you do best un!" he said fuming, "I haven't even caught a hint of anything supicious! I would have had more fun to just capture you!"

I couldn't help myself, I snuck up behind him and increased the volume of my voice. The only thing I wish I had right now was a camera. Inhaling sharply I planted myself behind him and yelled, "BOOM!"

I wasn't sure if it was my voice or the sudden surprise but Deidara was now literally clinging to Gaara clutching his chest, and I could swear I saw his soul leaking out his mouth. Gaara immediately collapsed on the floor he was laughing so hard. When Deidara recovered he began yelling at me.

"I should blow your ass to the heavens! What they fuck was that for un?" he said, though right now in my mind he was in his harmless chibi version.

"You were complaining about lack of excitement," I grinned.

"Just be glad it wasn't Kori, she might have used explosives," sighed Shikamaru.

Deidara glared, "If she had of, she might have blown us all up, un."

"Eh, anyway. Deidara, Gaara," I said before Kankuro and Temari burst through the door, "Others who have decided to join us. We found a place for Gaara that would be safe, though the problem is that he is a Kage _and _a jincuriki. He can't be in two places at once...could he?"

"We have already thought of that," said Kankuro smiling, "While Gaara is.."

"Shh!" I said, "We don't know if weed boy is here...so whatever it is congragulations Kankuro..I just need to get Gaara to Konoha so we can get Naruto and head to Turtle Island."

"Alright," said Kankuro, "Sheesh, but I better see the people who did this get credit."

"Fine," I said.

"Let's go," said Gaara, "Madara is still out there looking for us. I won't hide behind my villagers and watch them be killed."

"Then what are we waiting for?" I smiled, "To Konoha!"

**Konoha**

**Kori's POV**

I was bored to say the least. Things were quiet and Madara had yet to sneak into the village for any reason, since my place as totally trashed, I ended up staying at the Hyuga Compound. It would have been great if Tsunade hadn't told me that fact _after _I practically took advantage of Neji, who was now avoiding me because of the hickeys, accidental claw marks, that one spot where I bit to hard, and the accidental destruction of the room and the bruises he got. I was in some serious poutage, and it didn't help because I was at the Hyuga Compound I saw Hinata and Naruto everywhere...and I couldn't go back to the Uchiha Compound because of Sakura and Sasuke catching up. Though I didn't want to know what went on there because apparently Suigetsu was chased out with death threats when I hit the gate.

I wasn't able to help rebuild because Tsunade wasn't convinced I was fine, so I practically had to wander around Konoha for what seemed like ages. So Suigetsu and I took to training outside the main gates, around one of my many hideouts. After training we decided to hand out by the a nearby river.

"So water boy, how do you like Konoha?" I asked.

"I don't know, I haven't seen much of it," he replied laying in the water.

"You know it is creepy that you do that," I said, "Hearing me perfectly clearly when I can't see where your watery ass is."

"Coming from the girl who sees the future, uses paint to kill people, and can read _and _enter the minds of people," he replied.

"I told you guys, once things sped up I can't see the future, I just know what to look for," I huffed, dipping my feet into the water, "Er, I am not stepping on you am I?"

"No," he said, "I should be collecting swords instead of sitting here."

"Well why don't you?" I asked, "Sasuke never said you couldn't leave and you aren't technically a Konoha nin...okay rephrase, you aren't offically a Konoha nin. What is keeping you here?"

"I don't know, maybe you are right and we need to work together," he said, "Maybe I just like you. Hmm...can you breathe underwater?"

"Eh? Why would you ask that?" I said right before the water grabbed me, jerked me in, and began tickling my sides.

I just summoned a remainder of some purple pigments, which wasn't by best idea ever, now I was floating down the river in jello, or its equivellent. When I broke out and caught my breath, I grabbed the jello mass of Suigetsu and fished him and myself out of the river. I then proceeded to use my water element to seperate him from the pigments. When he was able to move again he smacked me upside the head.

"What did you do that for?" he asked.

"The answer is no...I can't breathe underwater," I said, "You deserved it. Now what did I do to cause you to do that?"

"Well, " he said scratching his head, "You kinda are our cheery mascot, giggling, making jokes..Ever since Danzo did what he did...you just..you don't smile like you did."

"It wasn't just Danzo..He just made me helpless..then someone showed me what I could be and it scared me. I mean what am I doing? I don't know how to command, the only reason we are ahead is because of all my memories I have," I said laying back.

"Afraid of going nuts again," he said punching my arm.

"Dude did you just bro hug me?" I said sitting up.

"Maybe.." he said innocently.

I punched him right back, "Appreciate the guesture but I don't think a bro hug is a big enough bandage man."

"As long as it isn't your relationship problems, I can help you vent," he said, "If it is a relationship problem, I would just say kill them."

"No..it isn't about Neji, oh so violent one," I said.

"Me, violent?" he said leaning back, "Hell I saw that bite mark. I have jagged teeth and I still don't think I could do that much damage."

"He flinched I swear," I said holding up my hands in the air, "I would have healed him but after I passed out he ghosted out of existance..and that bite mark was a hickey sir..the actual bite mark is on his-"

"I am not listening!" Suigetus covered his ears.

"What?" I said, "Alright you have a hot lover who you haven't seen in a while and watch them take of thier shirt...I couldn't help it..and the stretching..."

"You maimed him for stretching?" he asked.

I blushed, "Sort of..."

"We need to get back before they send a search party," said Suigetsu, "If anyone asks we were not talking..ever."

"Alright," I giggled, "Scouts Honor."

When we got back, Sasuke met up with us and informed us that Yuki was in Konoha with Gaara. So being all cool ninja we made our merry way to Tsunade's office. I saw Gaara, Deidara, Yuki, Shikamaru, and Fu there. I hugged Gaara, Yuki, and Deidara in one massive group hug before I was interrupted.

"Where are the others?" asked Sasuke.

"Well I had Itachi, Hidan, and Kisame stay behind, just in case A didn't keep his word," said Yuki.

"Aww," I pouted, "I was going to scare Hidan...pouncing him while screaming lyrics to _Bodies _by Drowning Pool."

"Sure if you wanted him to stab you repeatedly un," relpied Deidara, "Now get off me before I blow off your arm."

"Aww someone is having their withdraws from not blowing stuff up," I said before Deidara actually lashed out at me, "Ouch..got a nerve. So what is the plan?"

"Escorting Naruto and Gaara to you know where," said Yuki.

"Okay. So who is going to guard them?" I asked.

"I have already set up a team to escort them," said Tsunade, "The rest of you need a break. Dismissed."

"Just like that?" I asked.

"Just like that," replied Tsunade.

"Aww," huffed Naruto, "Why don't I get a break."

"Because Hero," I told him, "We need you more than you realize. While Yuki and I work in the shadows as mascots, we can't be the ones who save people...Well at least I can't. You and Puppy have to work on that one."

"Who is Puppy?" asked Gaara.

"Kyubi," I answered, "When I got knocked out and my butt handed to me I accidently jumped into Naruto and met it. Then it and I had a conversation about Care Bears."

"My sister is a fool," groaned Yuki.

"But you love me~," I said smiling while hugging her.

"You win for now," she huffed, "Hey where is Neji? I thought you two would be tied at the hip."

"Um..well..I kinda.." I said blushing.

"That poor boy," she said, "I hope he isn't scared of you now."

"I-I can't help it...he is all...haaa..and it makes me all...whoah...and then...the inner me is all like...yum...and then.." I said explaining myself, "I bet you do the same thing to Shikamaru!"

"Do not!" she said.

"OUT!" said Tsundae.

We cleared her office and that is when a thought came to mind. Before Naruto left I had to know what was going on with Hinata..that and I wanted to tease Sasuke.

"So how are you and Hinata doing?" I said to Naruto.

"Good I guess," he said.

"Only good? Have you got to second base yet?" I teased.

"That is none of your buisness!" he said pointing at me.

"Oh my god you have!" I squealed, "So um..have you got any farther."

Naruto blushed, "What about you and Neji."

"Psht, his entire family knows about us...trust me..they like me. I dunno what Uncle Hiashi will do to you when he finds out that you kissed Hinata..or worse," I teased, "By the way. Break my best friend's heart and I break your neck..repeatedly. I can heal you for a long time and can cause you to regenerate so I can re brake the bones."

"Shouldn't Hiashi be telling me this?" asked Naruto runing beet red.

"Maybe...besides he is scarier than me," I said remembering what he told me, "I though he was going to flay me because I was intrested in his nephew. Good thing it wasn't his own child."

Sasuke was laughing, "So sucks to be you right now."

"Oh not so fast Saskue," I said grabbing him, "So you and Sakura already starting on rebuilding your clan?"

It was Sasuke's turn to turn red, "I don't have to answer that."

"Holy crap! Naruto start making babies! I don't want your kiddies to grow up so far apart in years," I said preparing to dodge the attacks. However I was decked by Yuki who was now dragging me away.

"Just because you are cut off doesn't mean you can tease them about thier sex lives," she grumbled.

"Worth it," I said giggling madly,"Fear me...fear me I say. I will beat you with embarassment and such...mwahahaha."

"She's lost it un," said Deidara,"So where do we unwanted people stay."

"Follow me," said Sasuke.

* * *

**Gedō: Rinne Tensei no Jutsu**: **Outer Path: Samsara of Heavenly Life Technique: **By channelling his power through the King of Hell, Nagato can re-infuse new life force energy to the dead bodies of those recently killed. With their rejuvenated bodies acting as an anchor, the individual souls are then able to leave the crossroad between life and the afterlife, returning back to their physical vessels. The technique targets all the individuals killed, even those not necessarily killed by the Six Paths of Pain. There seems to be a limited time for when this technique can be used, as Nagato is unable to bring back those who have remained dead for an extended period of time.

**Hakke Hasangeki: Eight Trigrams Mountain Crusher-**A more powerful variation of Eight Trigrams Empty Palm. The user hits the target at close range with a powerful wave of chakra. The attack sends them flying back into a rock or wall, causing severe damage.

-Snort- I accidently called Land of Lightning, Land of Earth. I have corrected my mistake and I hope that in the future I won't get confused again.

**Fu- **Yes given the same name as the Seven-Tails jinchuriki..they are not the same. This Fu is the Root member of the Yamanaka clan. Origionally he was the one who went up against Madara with his partner Tourne and died because Summoning:Impure World Ressurection.

* * *

**Alpenwolf: **Really? Holy crap LOL. I didn't notice...I type to fast sometimes. I will make sure it won't happen again though. Thank you...I will be here ALL through the story..to humor you. I get what you are saying...I was just seeing what options I could make..Yeah I thought about it..and Starke really is better being part of Kori..don't worry he will reappear, he is just napping. Final Fantasy is how I got into RPGs I can't remember the first one I played actually it was between 7 and 8 since I got both games around the same time. O.O...could you...pweeety pweety pwease?

**ThorLuvR: ** Hmm...-twirls hair in thought- I will eventually get around to demanding hugs from Hidan. Yes, the half flirt thing will be going on...watch for fireworks...lol I plan on evil things to happen (in a good way). Yeah it was a little stupid but Kori had to gain his trust...she isn't the best at 'crack desicions' if you haven't noticed. Oh don't worry..the arm is practically useless...I belive but I may wanna check Narutowikia before I do any finalizing on what I wanna do with that arm. But yeah as Konoha is concerned...I couldn't leave it to fall under the dubbed Ass Clown's 'rule'.

Question: Would you like to have an OC appearance...if so would you like to date one of the guys as either one shot or repeating OC...I mean it could be a friend date or a date date..I just feel like the guys need some lovin'...Pm me if you wanna, with details so I can type it up.

**Sukaretto Miyuki: **I haz a question..Suppose I set you up on a date with the lucky bachlores we see here..Hidan, Suigetsu, Jugo, Kisame, Itachi, Kakashi (not the only ones to choose from, just the main ones we don't see being loved too much)...just sayin'...who would you pick?

**gunitatsuhiko: **Same question I asked Miyuki goes to you...If you want an OC appearace just PM me with a name if you want to personally request it. If not I can make one up for you. Anything else would be nice...

* * *

**River: **Alright, since the next chappy perhaps chappies will be the break before the Kage Sumit...I dunno if I wanna stick an Omake here...though I have a good Holiday one I would like to do. Christmas with that group...lol...perhaps a Summer Fest...eh, I will decide on something. So **Miyuki, Thor, and Gunita** (shortened version of names) you get a question...PM me with the answer. Since right now I will be taking a short rest from the fic to rest mi brain. I need to try and update my other story, giving you guys one or two days to answer and junk before I start writing. That and RL stress is getting to me so I won't be able to stay away from this fic for long...writing, it is my escape. **  
**


	35. Chapter 35: Vacation Begins

**Outside Konoha**

**No POV**

**Simply Curiosity**

Bounding along the treeline was Akio Yaorashi, a hunter-nin, allegiance to Suna. She was chasing after her target, and had been for days. He was cleaver and slippery but this time he made a mistake and she was going to get him. Her target was once a former commander in the Third Shinobi War, and the sole reason her village was destroyed seventeen years ago. Only a child five years old back then, she couldn't defend herself or her family because her small village did not have a ninja academy and very few families could afford to send their children off. Because it was on the border of the Land of Wind and the Land of Fire, both sides sought to control it and it ended up being destroyed because of fear that it would fall into the wrong hands. In one night her entire family died and her and only handful of refugees made it to Suna alive, the rest either died in the fires or in the desert.

She never really blamed one side or the other, but the war itself. She hated war and lived and became a hunter-nin for the purpose of preventing wars. By capturing fugitives and killing them, all secrets to start another war died with that person. Right now she was in the forest of the Land of Fire, not even a day's travel away from this man...

**Meanwhile..**

Hidan was pissed. It had been two days, since he, Itachi, and Kisame came back and there still hadn't been a peep of activity from Madara, or any reports of progress or failure on Gaara's, B's, and Naruto's part. Kori was using him as the majority of pranks since he couldn't die and he had to witness anything from tiny balls of paint that exploded all over you when you were hit, to actual explosives trying to mix her and Deidara's jutus together. Needless to say Jashin wasn't happy for lack of sacrifices, and when Jashin wasn't happy...some nearby village was wiped off the face of the earth. So to blow off steam he decided to find the closest thing and kill it, which _would_ have been in Konoha but right now he couldn't be seen. Tsunade was still trying to figure out how to manage keeping them a secret while she went through the proper paperwork and legal matters, and finding loop holes around the legal matters so she wouldn't have to kill her new allies. Plus he was told the 'future riot act will be given' speech by the responsible three of the bunch, Yuki, Itachi, and Tsunade. Though he really didn't like either version. One had him frolicking through fields of flowers _helping _people, courtesy of Itachi. Yuki wanted to trap him in a coma like state forever if not cause him to be deaf and Tsunade just warned him that she could rearrange his organs on a daily basis and _heal _him to death.

Making his way through the forest, something caught his eye. There was a small group of travelers off the beaten path...way off the beaten path. Perfect targets. By the look of them, no one would care that they died and no one would be the wiser that he did it. Keeping his presence concealed he watched the small troupe of seven men. To an untrained eye they would be simple travelers, but to him he could see former military stances, shifty eyes, and a tense atmosphere. He smiled to himself as he imagined all the horrible things he would do. However he was interrupted in thought when a katana blade went through his chest. Looking down he followed the blade and saw a young woman about his age, dark curly hair clipped back so the tight ringlets would keep tied to her head, a half mask just covering the lower half of her face that was made out of bone and was carve to look like a human skull, and her honey eyes had malicious intent.

"Hn, die," she said, smooth voice matching that of her eyes, "Your master won't live any longer."

"My what?" asked Hidan, pissed that he was just stabbed in the chest by someone, "I don't know what the fuck you are talking about bi-"

His short rant was cut off by her removing her katana and slicing into his throat. As the metal broke through his skin, he could feel the distinct pressure of Wind chakra. He smiled at this woman as she hopped away. He remembered her large round eyes, golden tan, slender neck that he would love to wrap his hands around, and small toned,yet curvaceous frame. Her dark reddish brown kimono top that was cut in half on the front so it fit like a duster, dark gray fishnet under armor poking out of the sleeves, he legs covered by black fitted cargo type long shorts, fish net stockings and black shinobi sandals. The waist held two short stick like objects, which he guessed were fans, her shocking electric purple and silver, crane carved into it, katana hilt, and a pouch were secured in the obi. He watched her run off toward the men as he began to staunch the bleeding. Just because he couldn't die didn't mean he wanted to ruin all his clothes. Which it was probably a bad idea for him to have left his old Akatsuki cloak in Konoha.

**:After Hidan's 'death':**

It was too easy. That man didn't look like one of the ex-commander's guards, but she couldn't take her chances. Sneaking along the brush she crept along the dense floor surrounded by vegetation. Sheathing her katana, she took out her bladed fans and used her Nature Transformation to create four wind darts into the small groves of the fans where the simple metal rods held the blades of her fan together. Taking them in hand, she popped out of the brush and preformed her Dance of Blades to kill all seven of them. As she popped out, she flicked her right wrist, releasing two darts into the skulls of the first two men. side stepping she brought her left hand up and flicked her wrist and sent out another two darts into the heart of the men on her left. As she released the wind darts a high pitched howl could be heard. Twirling once she sent darts into the throat, eye, and chest of the remaining three. Standing with her blades out, in a slightly crouched position, she let her eyes wander among the bodies to see if her target was dead. To her dismay, none of these men she recognized from his normal guard. Curing under her breath she was bombarded with explosive kunai and fire style attacks.

Forming small globes of wind she caught the fire safely and ignited the orbs while she flipped back and high jumped into the air to avoid the surprise attack. Twirling in the air, she remembered the trajectory of the attacks and glided the first fire globe into a nearby tree, causing it to ignite the man who she remembered was a expert trap maker specializing in explosives. As he exploded, the others who were nearby to jump out of the way of the blast. The second globe was aimed at two close enough together to be hit with the same orb. After a few short minutes, she killed four more men but was pinned down by the rest of them. Hiding behind a tree she changed to her senbon and enhanced them with wind chakra so they would pass through trees, as she popped out of her hiding spot, rolled, tossed them, killed the two men behind the same tree, and took cover in a bush. Laying flat on her belly, she waited for them to make a move, but she never expected that they recruited a member that specialized with wires and he suddenly set up a trap that pinned her down in a deadly web. If she were to move a fraction, she would risk losing a limb, or worse.

**:In the Shadows:**

Hidan watched as this woman took out seven men by herself in one swift move, and then nine more before being trapped in wire. Whoever she was, she was beautiful. She killed far to quickly to actually savor the kill but she managed to dish out full scale slaughter nonetheless. He smiled, perhaps he would keep her alive after all. Swiftly he appeared in the center of the chaos and removed his scythe, smiling wickedly, he laughed.

"All you belong to Jashin," he laughed before he began to kill them one by one. When they were all dead he used his scythe to release the woman from her cage. A blood covered hand helped her to her feet, "Who are you?"

"Koyōte Hauringu," she spoke quickly while searching the bodies and finding her target, "Shit! I didn't need saving but thanks for the effort."

"If you had of twitched, you would have gotten more than just a haircut," laughed Hidan, "So don't even say you fucking didn't need help."

"So are you with him?" she said removing the head of her target.

"No, but you got in the way of me having fun, but since you managed to sneak up on me then I forgive you. Besides Jashin in fucking ecstatic right now!" laughed Hidan.

"That wasn't a shadow clone?" she said turning, wide eyed.

"No and it fucking hurt thank you," said Hidan lifting up his neck to show her his wound, "See? So the Coyote...I would have pegged you for a fox."

"Har har," she said flatly, "I have to get back to the Kazekage."

"Gaara?" asked Hidan, "You are from Suna?"

"Since I was five," she said kicking the corpse, "Normally I am in and out but I wanted this bastard to suffer. He killed my family in front of me...but not before destroying my sister's mind and causing her so much grief that death was merciful. He used to be a great commander but when the war was beginning to end, he was afraid to lose his statues and attacked my village, claiming it was so it wouldn't fall into the wrong hands...but he never even gave us a chance to escape."

"Pretty self serving, and heavy," Hidan said, "So do you randomly spout out your life story to random strangers?"

"Hidan, S-Rank missing nin from Yugakure. Working for the elite organization Akatsuki, but recent events have lead to two deaths of members and the others have vanished. Your former partner is dead," she said from memory.

"Oh I didn't know I had a fan!" he smiled, "Am I that famous for being a priest of Jashin?"

"I would take you in or flat out kill you but my contract came from Konoha, I must go there to turn in my mission and return home shortly after," she said walking off with head in hand.

"Well how about that, I _live _in Konoha," he said walking behind her, "Since you can't manage to avoid an ambush, I will be here to escort you. Besides you are the most interesting thing I have seen in a while, aside from your damn right delicious work. I could practically taste the blood in the air."

She stopped in her tracks, "So what is this where you tell me you have killed the Hokage and now govern Konoha...or have you just killed all the citizens?"

"No, I haven't...right now they are in a crisis and they won't let just anyone in...but I know a few routes to get you in," said Hidan.

"The front gate sounds like a good option," she said, "Walk in front of me if you plan on annoying me until we get there."

"I could just kill you," he said before brushing his hand through his hair, getting out the clots of blood. Cracking open his eye he noticed her look was very close to a gaze, one you would see on women that were seeing something very interesting to them, "Hold on a second? Are you checking me out?"

"N-No!" she said looking away and walking off.

Hidan just smiled and whispered to himself, "She was _so _checking me out."

**Konoha**

**No POV**

**Healing Water**

Miyuki had just finished her shift at the Konoha Hospital, or the makeshift one. She was amazed at the openness of these people, and how they welcomed her after she was sent here to care for Pein. It was difficult here, there were still so many injured from the attack and with construction going on, there were a few more. Miyuki sighed as she wandered along the streets, she inhaled the air and sighed. She missed the rain. So she decided to take a stroll outside of the walls, away from the people who talked behind her back still, though she had done nothing to provoke them. She sighed, knowing better than fuel their anger, she simply ignored them. Once outside the gate she made her way to the river.

Once there she stuck her feet in the cool water to numb her feet and take down the swelling. Though she was a very skilled healer, she was kept on her feet almost constantly at the hospital, unlike when she was in Ame. Relaxing under the feel of water rush over her skin, she heard a loud sound that disturbed her. She wasn't sure what it was but it sounded like something collapsed. Fearful of children getting caught in traps or someone being hurt, she darted toward the noise. When she arrived at the scene, she would have missed the hole if it wasn't for the dust still clearing out from the hole.

"Damn," hissed a voice.

She looked in the hole and found no one, "Hello?"

"Oh there is someone there," said a voice before a puddle of water formed and rose, containing a face.

"Are you alright?" she asked.

"No, I was training with Kubikiribōchō, and I found this shitty fox hole by accident and my sword was buried in the rubble. I cant find it," he groaned.

"May I help? Two pairs of eyes are better than one," smiled Miyuki.

"What can you do?" asked Suigetsu.

Miyuki took two collapsible rods out of her sleeves and then her ear rings. Using her Nature Transformation, she filled the small orbs with water until they became large, heavy looking ornamental balls. She screwed in the metal poles into the bottom of the balls and picked them up with ease, smiling she put them both over her shoulder.

"Clear the rubble for starters," she smiled, "They look like water balloons but what it actually is, a crystalline compound of my making that when water is added, it expands before settling and turning into a substance hard as diamond. They weigh enough to smash through stone with a simple swing. Now move out of there, I don't want to hurt you."

"No, in this form attacks pass through me," said Suigetsu, "Start swinging, but be careful, you smash Kubikiribōchō, and I will have to repair it with you."

"I am okay with that," she smiled before she began to clear the rubble.

When she was finished she not only cleared the rubble but managed to not damage Suigetsu's sword. He was impressed with her aim, and as they both exited he decided to see how heavy they really were. She passed one to him and asked he be careful. He was amazed that such a small girl could lift it, and with one arm! Suigetsu didn't want to be out classed by a girl and swung the heavy weapon around but he miscalculated the weight shift and ended up falling back into the hole, twisting his ankle. Miyuki only laughed and got him out of the hole before she put away her ornamental clubs, returning her earrings to their normal form, and putting the rods away. After that she tended to his ankle, healing it by speeding up his healing slightly.

"You're a med nin and you carry those?" asked Suigetsu surprised.

"We'll when I was young I was supposed to be an assassin," she frowned.

"What did you fail?" he asked.

"No I succeeded. Quite well, so much that my people feared me and I ran for my life, refusing to kill anyone ever again. So I took up healing, to make up for what I have done. I used to be part of Kiri, but they believe I am dead. Though I still use my name given to me," she said, "I used to be called 'Princess of the Scarlet Mist.' I changed my name and became a healer."

"I am from Kiri, why haven't I heard of you?" he asked.

"Well they thought I failed the Exam, so they wrote me off. Though I had another name back then. When I left, I never looked back and I found my way to Ame, I lived there since I was four, besides those clubs I have always kept and train with them everyday. Some habits die hard," she laughed.

"What was your name?" he asked.

"I don't remember," she answered, "Now, where are you staying? I am not carting you all the way to Kiri."

"Uchiha Compound," he said. Miyuki dropped him and was about to yell at him but he quickly recovered, "With Itachi and Sasuke Uchiha."

Miyuki blushed, "Oh. I am sorry I thought that you may have been one of those desperate people..I am so sorry forgive me. Oh you live with Itachi and Sasuke? Could you invite me in? I need to chew out that ungrateful spoiled child for not even telling me he was living here and not even giving me so much as a word that he was alive...that and I want to see how cute this Sasuke is!"

"How old are you?" asked Suigetsu.

"Hm?" she said before counting, "It has been fifteen years since I left Kiri...So nineteen."

"Isn't Itachi older than you?" asked Suigetsu.

"Not for ten minutes he isn't," she said getting an evil aura.

When they arrived at the compound, Miyuki went to target Itachi but found Hidan, Kisame, and Deidara there. Super pissed she rounded them all up for a long conversation about one's manners about keeping one's friends posted about where one was. Suigetsu could only hear bits and pieces but when the door opened, Deidara ran out screaming, Hidan looked like she broke his jaw for bad mouthing her, Itachi just rubbed the bridge of his nose, and Kisame looked pale.

"And if you forget about it again I will turn you into a permanent corpse, sushi, modern art, and stuff your remains into a weasel for your little brother! No wonder he was so pissed at you!" he said with full 'motherly' tone with added 'it isn't a threat, it is a promise.'

Suigetsu looked on in mild awe as she scared four Akatsuki members! Holy crap! He was pretty sure he had a firm hero crush with her.

**Konoha**

**Week Later**

**Kori's POV**

It would seem that fall was the new spring. Water boy and Corpse Commando found dates! I was floored when I saw them. They were pretty cute too. And they had that balance the other needed, but they weren't pushy about it or anything. Hidan kept joking that it was love at first stab and that he gave her his heart, but with Hidan that could be a fact and not just an expression. Suigetsu didn't haunt the halls of the Uchiha Compound in a bad mood, hell even the rest of them had either found someone interesting or was forced into it by Master of Impending Doom herself, Miyuki. I realy wondered about that girl but I thought it best to keep my nose out of it. I was just happy to see Suigetsu not bothering me or trying to Kisame. With Hidan it was the opposite, trying to kill me and bothering other people. I worried about his girlfriend until I watched them spar, then I worried about Hidan.

In my opinion both were really friendly and Miyuki and I got along swimmingly. We were both healers with surprising battle skills. Though she focused primarily on healing while I was more focused on combat. Yuki found friends with Aiko, and with someone else other than me and Shikamaru to be around, she calmed down and smoothed out her mood swings. I also ended up being forgiven by Neji, though I think it was partly because of Hinata. I still love that girl. If things went well maybe one day I would be cousins with the Hokage himself..and with that joke I snorted to myself. I didn't think that we needed this vacation, but I wasn't going to challenge the Hokage's decision either...I liked my bones not broken.

It was close to night time and I totally forgot what month it was. I was staying at the Uchiha Compound for the night, with all intent and purpose to plot against Madara. When I got there I was totally caught off guard. When I opened the door I heard a loud SUPRISE.

"Fuck!" I said trying to dart away but was caught in Shikamaru's jutsu, "No, you are going to kill me!"

"Happy birthday," said a very well dressed Neji, loose fitting shirt that had some of his collar bone showing...and ass hugging jeans. Damn.

I stopped for a second before I narrowed my eyes, "No amount of eye candy is worth this!"

"Come on," said Itachi before grinning, "That or Yuki has permitted me and Sasuke to use the Sharringan on you."

"I will summon Starke to bite you," I threatened.

_I will just sit and laugh._

_Traitor._

Shikamaru forced me to walk into the main part of the house where all the decorations were set up and sit down. After sitting I was instantly surrounded, both Kisame and Suigetsu brought out their swords. I paled.

"I hope I get a ten second head start," I said knowing the impending doom of birthdays, the spankings, "and I prefer not to be hit with those things."

"Oh don't be silly," said Deidara, "We wouldn't dream of wasting the swords for that."

"This is punishment for all the pranks I have pulled, I am getting revenge paid in full," I groaned.

"Yep," said Hidan, "Though Jashin aside, we decided that our presents would be one wish from us."

"Okay leave me alone, let me go, and let me run as far away as this circus will allow me," I said flushing red, thinking of all the humiliating things they could do to me.

"That would be only two steps sis," mused Yuki bringing out a cake.

"Wait who baked that," I said pointing, "If it was Lee, Deidara, Hidan, or Tsunade..I will pass."

"Why?" asked Yuki raising an eyebrow.

"I love Lee as a friend but he can't cook, Dei will just have it explode on me, Hidan most likely poisoned it, and Tsunade will have spiked it," I said.

"Now is that how you treat a friend?" said Hidan, "So what if I _did _ bake it?"

"Just stab me," I said, "It will be less painful."

"Oh don't talk about that to Hidan," warned Aiko, "He might do it."

"Tempted," said Hidan, "But it is her birthday..Nineteen huh?"

"Yes, my teenage years are going to be over soon," I said.

"Hold her," smiled Yuki, "Nineteen hits."

"Ek, no spanking!" I said trying by best to get out of the way.

"Birthday spanking?" asked Suigetsu.

"Oh it is a horrible tradition that the birthday girl or guy gets a spanking by family, and sometimes friends. A smack for every year and one more to 'grow on'," chucked Yuki, "So that is about two smacks for all of us? Fifteen peeps here, the ones that are closest to you get two shots..So me, Neji, Shikamaru, Hinata, and your choice."

"I better not get one tomorrow," I groaned, "Why are we doing this now? My birthday is tomorrow."

"Well these guys love you lots too, and I want everyone else in Konoha that are our friends to celebrate in their way tomorrow. Besides, two parties for your birthday, and you are complaining why?" asked Yuki.

"My ass can't handle...never mind," I said realizing all the perversion that could happen if I said 'all the spankings, or the abuse.' Especially the last one.

Yuki giggled, "Assume the position or I may lose count."

I sighed, "Alright this humiliation over with. No ass kicks...last time that happened my butt was numb for an hour and I couldn't sit down right."

After I assumed the position, Yuki, Aiko, Sai, and Miyuki couldn't help but laugh, Hidan, Suigetsu, Deidara, Sasuke, and Sakura were grinning, Kisame, Jugo, and Itachi looked like they could care less, Neji and Hinata looked concerned for me after seeing Hidan's and Deidara's grin. I stood there as much as I could but after the fifth or was it seventh smack my ass was numb. Though some people used enough force to knock me off my feet, so I had to get back up and hold up to tradition and get humiliated...again. This is one reason I hated birthdays...you friends always got revenge on you and did all the fun stuff you sarcastically love to do.

"Karoke!" yelled Yuki.

"Where?" I said, "We have to keep noise levels down."

"Psht," she said casually throwing her hand, "I can set up a sound barrier. It will just take me a few minutes."

"Great," I said, thinking of all the terrible songs that could make up the list of choices. At least I got food and no one had a camera, or at least I hoped they didn't. If truth or dare came up...hmm.

"Hey can I get a birthday wish?" I asked.

"Yeah," said Yuki like I had forgotten something important.

"Good," I smiled evilly, "Truth or Dare..Ninja Style."

"Fuck," all of the cursed.

"I can go first, I mean with the dare.." I said.

"Alright," said Yuki, "Go up to Kisame and act as Dory in the Squishy scene."

"Fuck," I said, I went up to Kisame, put on a smile _and _hugging him, "Hey there little guy..I shall call him Squishy and he shall be mine. He shall be my Squishy, come here Squishy. Come here little Squishy," about that time Kisame growled, "Bad Squishy! Bad Squishy!"

I lept away before any damage could be done, "Alright smarty pants. Truth or Dare?"

"Truth," said Yuki.

"Are you sure~?" I asked, "You know full well how my imagination goes."

"Sure," she said.

"Alright, Does Shikamaru have any unusual birthmarks he keeps hidden?" I asked.

Shikamaru blushed and just shook his head, Yuki spazed, "N-no!"

"Alright," I said before we went around the room. I can tell you right now, that was a double edged sword. Everyone know way too much about everyone, and we did some ridiculous things. Though of all the questions that came to mind...one struck my fancy when it was my turn again.

"Deidara," I said, "Truth or Dare?"

"Truth?" he said with a doe eyed stare.

"Oh my god. Cute~, Anyway. Those hand, and chest mouths...can you eat things with them...like food?" I asked.

"No..they are only for molding clay, un," he said, "Why?"

"Curious, and leave it at that before you step in a hole," I said looking away.

Thankfully the subject was left at that, because everyone knew where my mind went with that question, or at least, they thought they knew. It was dinner time and we sat down and tried to eat in peace but someone thought it would be funny to stick explosives in my food, and to bring a camera. So after I had rice and whatever was dipped on my food on my face, a flash told me my target and I tossed the closest dish at Deidara. However it was peanut chicken, Yuki's favorite, which caused her to remove all the other food from the table with my body. Most everyone already filled their plates with extra and held up the dishes until I slid by but Miyuki, Hinata, Sakura, and Aiko did not have the experience of our food fights and ended up with food in their lap. Itachi just picked up his plate and looked at us.

"I am eating outside, when I come back this better be clean," he warned, "And I am not replacing any broken furniture. If any is broken I will let Hidan put it back together with what is left over from your remains after I kill you."

"Aye Aye Captain!" I said taking the salute pose before jumping onto Jugo, who didn't budge, "Damn, why do I always get the stout people."

Sure enough twenty minutes later, the place was nearly clean and nothing was broken. Thank god. I really didn't feel like being added to the menu myself. Sakura was weirded out by the whole thing while Miyuki was too busy laughing while taking cake out of her hair, though the frosting she ate...if there wasn't hair stuck to it. Aiko spent the time licking the icing or random sweet trail off Hidan, which caused him to bail on us blushing and mumbling something about Jashin. Deidra was kicked out before he could 'accidentally' blow something up, and I was too busy trying to pick out the random fruit pieces that just so happened to land perfectly down my shirt. It was just better not to question it. We were all at least three different colors due to the cake being made out of assorted cupcakes which was a terrible waste but great ammo. While cleaning I decided to hum "All the Raindrops" which caused Miyuki to ask about it and we ended up breaking out into song before the end.

Sasuke was just enjoying himself, being able to participate in a not so quiet but not too violent evening. Sakura kept trying to rake cupcake out of her hair, but ended up making it worse. Sai kept making doodles in his icing before eating it, and oddly enough Hinata turned the icing covering her face into war paint. Suigetsu had already confiscated the jello before it was thrown and Jugo had to wonder why he had stepped into a pile of apparently slippery food, slide into the wall, manage to not break it, and manage to not go berserk. I was busy taking pictures of everyone before we got cleaned up and even got Yuki with 'chipmunk cheeks', where you end up biting too much and when you try to chew it your cheeks puff up, with the cupcakes. Shikamaru had apparently found ice cream and was having to fend the frozen treat away from people. All in all, I had a blast.

After getting cleaned up ourselves, it was time for me to open presents. I loved them all, stuffed animals, art designs, medical scrolls, a scrap book, plus the camera was now mine, candles, oils, and only one pervy gift of silk handcuffs. Though since no one wrote their name on the boxes or bags, I couldn't tell who the new toy was from but I could guess. When it was all finished we winded down the evening with Karaoke, making people choose songs that were based off subjects like: Musical, Rock, Rap, and others. I sang 'Hakuna Mattata' with Miyuki when she figured out the words. I was happy and very sleepy when we all went to sleep. For once, I was glad we were on vacation..since tomorrow was my real birthday, I was sad about not hanging out with my odd family but I still had loads of friends to torment tomorrow anyway.

* * *

**Aiko Yaorashi** - Aiko means 'love child' and Yaoirashi means 'night storm'. A bit of a weird combination of names but I like it. This is **gunitatsuhiko'**s OC .Koyōte Hauringu, means Howling Coyote, her nickname caused by the howls from her fans and other weapons.

* * *

**Alpenwolf: **Sorry Aplen, I fixed the error. Well I kinda wanted it to be a 'holy crap she is going to die, she has been left five minutes alone..." and I wanted him to be a bit funny in this chapter, we really haven't seen any of his humor. Kori is still afraid, Suigetsu is just looking out for his friend in a manly way...sorta. Hn, I couldn't get the link to work but I am 'dead' tired atm.

**gunitatsuhiko: **well I figured he was the best one to scare...but thank you. Alright you got your wish though this chappy is more an intro to the two new OCs, we will see more of them later.

**Sukaretto Miyuki: **No more caffine for you...or at least what you were drinking. I must commend you on your attention span...As for the insult: Danzo is a pustule on the back of an oversized desised rump of a pig that eats its own feces. Yes, my boyfiend rolled his eyes when I mentione it to him and giggled..in a guy way when I told him about what you said. Nagato will be out of commision while he recovers but he is alive. A is the Raikage of Kumo..Anyway..I am glad you like my imagination and humor. A bro hug- A bro hug is usually defined by two males who are very hertosexual and not quite confident enough to give another male a hug due to the high social standard that if you look at a guy more than three seconds in RL you are gay and should die (I hate that though. I spread the huggles, men should too..damn that sounded like a virus or something.) Well you got Suigetsu because Gunita called Hidan before you...sorry. Oh also made you a bit younger so it wouldn't look so terrible for your OC to be dating a 16 yr old. It is alright, I am fixin' (love the South for cuttin' off the g's at the end of words) to go to be myself. I will darlin' I will, if I can.

**ThorLuvR: ** well he may be a tad breakable but i'd do it...I am just Lovin' Huggins-Free Hugs Service. Thank you. Anyways, I got the clearer message in the PM...alright, this should do it..now to upload, spell check, post, pass out.

* * *

**River: **I is tiredz...will pass out and have good dreams that also help fuel my creative streak. NIGHT.**  
**


	36. Chapter 36: Memories

**A Week Later**

**Konoha**

**Kori's POV**

My birthday went well and we were informed that the Kage Summit was at the end of the month, so we should start preparing. I spent as much time as I could with everyone, just in case something happened. With the reconstruction, I was unnerved, it was peaceful. There was nothing trying to attack us or no new threat. It worried me. I tried to relax and occupied my time helping Itachi and Sasuke fix up the Uchiha Compound. Tsunade called us up to her office to explain recent events.

"Alright," she began, "It would seem that we are to head to the Land of Iron at the end of them month, this should give everyone time to prepare."

"Well that is good," I said nervously.

"Is there something wrong?" asked Tsunade.

"Well call me paranoid, but things are really quiet. I do not do well with really quiet. Ever since I got here it has been on thing after another...I just, I don't know how to handle it," I said shifting around.

"Here I thought you would be happy, un," said Deidara, "I could start waking you up with explosives."

"That might help," I smiled.

Everyone else just shook their heads but Deidara smiled, "You always know what to say, un!"

"Yep I am here to bring smiles and sunshine," I said with mild sarcasm.

"Well you have twenty four hours before we begin to prepare to head out," said Tsunade, " Yuki, work with Shikakau and Shikamaru to split our forces into appropriate divisions, Kori and Miyuki will be under me along with Sakura for the medical corps, Deidara, Itachi, Neji, and Sasuke, you will work with Kakashi and the other clans with Kekkei Genkai and sort them among the other battalions to make sure that all of them are well rounded, and Suigetsu, Jugo, Hidan, Aiko, and Kisame, your job is to set up a set of perimeters around the battle field, ranging from small to large. If anything happens with this perimeter, then you shall try and come up with scenarios to attack and defend that area."

"That sounds like a lot of fucking work," huffed Hidan.

"Oh don't worry about it," smiled Aiko, "I will be there to stab you if you mess up, well depending on how you mess up. There are many things I wanted to try...that no one seems to be able to tell me about how it feels because they are dead, and the alive ones usually run because they have heard about my reputation and run away screaming."

Hidan had a smile on his face which caused me to quickly interrupt that thought, "Okay so we are all good?"

"It would seem so, but how are we going to explain them?" asked Yuki.

"I have it covered," said Tsunade handing us a few papers to look at.

"Impressive," I said looking over the document.

It was a trial that the Konoha Council presided over about everyone. It said that Jugo, Sasuke, and Suigetsu were all taken as experiments against their will and came back to make sure no one would be taken to used as experiments again, Itachi was cleared from his crimes when evidence was found in Danzo's old files indicating he was in fact working with a known enemy, the Akatsuki members were still pledged under Pein, who was now co-operating with us, and in short the crimes that were placed on Yuki and I were dismissed due to Danzo's old contacts.

"I wasn't the one who figured it out, that credit goes to Yuki and Shikamaru," she smiled at them, "Inochi, Ibiki had a field day with those who Danzo trusted most. Don't worry they were not harmed."

"Why weren't any of us questioned?" I asked.

"Well, Yuki was and she helped with the investigation greatly," she said, "Alright, you are dismissed. The commanders of the divisions will be informed of your arrival, and they have also been ordered to treat you with respect as well as an ally. Since we don't know how well this Summit will go, our allies are only Suna at the moment."

"Well we can only hope that the other Kage's will listen," I sighed.

"Dismissed," she said.

We filtered out and began to head back. Yuki's and my flat was already repaired and all the completely destroyed things were replaced but that really didn't feel like home to us anymore. We hardly ever stayed there anyway, most of our time was spent either at Tsunade's office or where ever we hung out at. So it really just was storage for our clothes and stuff. Entering in the flat, we decided to stay here for once, seeing as how we wouldn't be back for a while most likely and I was pretty sure everyone was sick of seeing us.

**Yuki's POV**

Morning arrived and I was the first one up, so I made breakfast. Kori came into the kitchen complaining about a headache, so I got her some medicine after serving the omlettes. While eating we decided to talk about everything.

"So what are you going to do?" I asked between bites.

She sighed, "Research I suppose. We have to find a way to stop Kabuto...When I first got with Sasuke, I didn't kill Kabuto. I didn't see the need."

"Seriously?" I squeaked, "He is the one who revives everyone...and you couldn't kill him?"

"Why should I have?" she asked, "Yeah he is evil and a prick but Sasuke just ordered me to take him out...not kill him. It was just so he couldn't follow us."

"You could have prevented a lot of grief," I sighed rubbing my temples.

"I-we...changed too much, I was afraid of what would happen if I killed Kabuto. I can handle his dorky ass, what if someone else wanted Orochimaru's power? We wouldn't know what to do or who it was," she said finishing her plate and cleaning up, "So what...I fucked up. When has anything we tried gone according to plan?"

"So what you are saying is that you kept him alive to prevent another evil from occurring? Really what a load, but I can see your reasoning, as bizzare as it is," I said following her and helped clean up, "It would have been nice if you had of told me months ago.."

"Yeah, yeah," she said walking to her room to get dressed.

**Meanwhile**

In the Mountain's Graveyard, Kabuto slithered(1) around looking or Madara. He found the said shinobi in question as he was about to face death when Madara popped out of the shadows trying to kill him. Kabuto, in a peace offering began to use the Kuchiyose: Edo Tensei along with a poor sap he picked up along the way. He used this to revive Kazuku and Sasori.

"I thought Kazuku's remains were destroyed," said Madara.

"Ah well, I traveled to Ame, there I found the most intresting thing. A doctor there treated all of the Akatsuki members and had samples of everyone, thankfully they left in a hurry," smiled Kabuto wickedly.

"Miyuki, yes she was very good at her job. She disappeared sometime after Pein attacked Konoha," said Madara, "I have been watching carefully. It would seem that those two kunochi had something to do with it. I have seen her in Konoha. Besides why are you here?"

"I propose a truce and partnership," hissed Kabuto.

"What are the terms?" he asked.

"That I have Sasuke and Itachi after all this is over," Kabuto smiled.

"Why should I hand over my great, great, grand-nephews(2)?" asked Madara, "What if I refuse?"

"I thought you may say that," he said before summoning another coffin that disturbed Madara.

"Alright," said Madara, "I will not hand them over until after the war, and while you are here you _will _be watched."

"Fine," said Kabuto bowing his scaly head,"Is there anything you want me to do?"

"Yes there might be some use for you," said Madara.

**Kori's POV**

I felt tired and on edge all day, however we managed to get some things done. It wasn't anything amazing but we had a good sense of where everything should be organized. After the day was over I went to stop by and see how Nagato was doing, just on a whim. I told Yuki I would meet her back at the flat later. As for Nagato, he was given a place to stay on the Uchiha residence. It wasn't like he could stay anywhere and it was quiet and some of the most powerful shinobi of Konoha were staying there. Only a moron would try and attack there.

When I arrived at his place, called out, "Nagato-san! Sorry to just drop by..."

I pulled off my shoes and entered the small building and went to where his room was. In the hallway I saw something odd. One of the side doors was open, and Konan wasn't to be seen. I looked into the room and found Konan on the floor dead. Running to her side, I looked her over and couldn't find any blood but I found two incision wounds on her wrist. I carefully scanned her body and found she was injected with textrodotoxin, a poison found in the puffer fish. I took up my sleeve and looked along the lines and kanji and found my 'wilting rose' tattoo which carried anti-venom and antidotes Tsunade gave me to use. Taking off one of the petals, I placed it on her lips, it began to liquefy slowly and work its way into her system.

After tending to her, I heard scuffling in the other room and ran toward it. I opened the door to Nagato's room and found him lying there covering his eyes. I went to him and touched him.

"Get away!" he yelled.

"N-nagato!" I called, "It's me Kori!"

"Get out!" he cried, "Here...AUGH!"

"What is wrong? Nagato!" I said after he went limp in my hands. I shook him slightly and checked his vitals, Curare was used, a muscle relaxant, one made from various planct. He was barely alive, and I could see bleeding around his head, and he had similar marks on his ankle like Konan had on her wrist. Thinking back I realized someone was here, I turned around and things went black, "Shit."

I woke up sometime later dizzy as hell and in the infirmary. Two people were there looking at me.

"You're conscious, good," said a blond woman, "What happened?"

"I don't know," I said recalling a huge blank, "Why am I here?"

"You were attacked, Sasuke found you a few hours ago. You are lucky...Nagato and Konan didn't have the same luck. Both were poisoned but treated early..I suppose you had something to do with that," she told me.

I looked at the black haired boy who smiled and touched my shoulder, I recoiled away from him. The boy had a worried expression on his face.

"I am not going to hurt you," he tried to reassure me.

"I don't know that," I said backing away.

"See if Starke knows anything," said Sasuke, "It would seem she has lost her memory."

"Starke?" I asked, my head hurt and I had a pain in my neck. Bringing up my hand I felt a hole there.

"Your wolf," said the boy.

"Alright, I just need to give you something," said the lady.

_I will just give you something..._something said in my head_..it won't hurt a bit._

"This won't hurt a bit," said the lady.

_She needs help, that wound had to have more to it than nothing, and Starke is missing. She is disoriented and.._

_**I hope she is okay. I would feel terrible that she got hurt in my home..why was she there?**_

_Loss of memory with traces of toxin in her system.__**I hope Yuki doesn't find out.**__She looks nervous.__**What is wrong?**_

I grabbed my head, "Shut up! Shut up!"

_**She can hear us? Oh no.**_

I jumped up and ran. I couldn't take it anymore. They weren't speaking but I could hear them. I was going out of my mind literally. When I went outside. I could hear screaming, laughing, crying, talking, and I grabbed my head and felt sick. I ran out of this place full of noise and kept running until I couldn't hear them anymore.

I was exhausted when I stopped and found a nearby cave to sit in. I curled up in a ball and cried. I didn't know what was happening to me. I ended up passing out in tears.

**No POV**

Tsunade watched as Kori ran from the room and out of a nearby window. As much as she wanted to help the kunochi, she knew that cornering a frightened girl would only end badly. She looked at Sasuke and cleared her throat.

"I will work on the samples I have taken, you find her sister and Neji," she said, "Don't scare her but make sure she is safe."

"On it," said Sasuke before disappearing.

Sasuke gathered everyone that was closest to Kori to try and find her. They went in pairs of two. Shikamaru and Yuki, Suigetsu and Miyuki, Aiko and Hidan, Itachi and himself, Neji and Hinata, and even Kisame and Sakura looked. They took different areas of where Kori may have been and even tried to call on Starke for assistance but there was nothing. As the sun set, they had to go back home and report to Tsunade, though Yuki was a bit less than willing to give up on the search.

"Where is she?" asked Yuki.

"No and she isn't dead, couldn't find blood anywhere. Shame though, would have made it easier to find her," said Aiko.

"Not helping," said Neji.

"What it would be," said Suigetsu, Kisame, and Hidan.

"Plus we have two med-nin," reminded Miyuki.

"Not even with the Byakuya could we find her...it is like she didn't exist," said Hinata, "Neji and I can see for miles...but no matter where we looked."

**Kori's POV**

I woke up sometime later, not feeling rested at all. I was in a strange place as well. It was dark and no matter where I turned I couldn't see anything but vauge shapes of rectangular pillars. I called out to the sky and there was no answer..I tried again and again until my voice was weak and scratchy. I sobbed again. I was alone, I shouldn't have ran but what could I do...I didn't know them.

"Could you stop yelling," came a voice before a man appeared.I screamed and ran across the pillars. The man sighed, "That isn't going to help."

I stopped at looked at him, "Wh-who are you?"

"You don't remember?" he asked in surprise. He inhaled and took a moment to gather his thoughts.

_Interesting...this could..._ and other broken and half thought out words were picked up but he was able to keep me from hearing him.

"Well I am sorry. I thought they would have taken better care of you," he went on, "I am Tobi, a clan mate. We come from the same family, I was forced to give you up and our sister to save our Clan but I failed. They were killed by a terrible man who used our own people to kill the clan. Itachi was forced to kill our clan and his little brother was forced to watch. You and your sister were on the way to our new hideout, where the remainder of our clan was supposed to meet and were attacked and lost your memories. Konoha, being the twisted village it is, used you to try and kill me."

"I don't understand," I said, "What clan?"

"The Uchiha," he said, "You are safe here. Don't worry they won't get you."

"Um...how can I hear things? I can hear people speak when they don't move their lips," I told him.

"Ah, yes. You were special. While the Sharringan didn't manifest in your eyes, like the rest of the clan, you can touch people and learn about them. When Konoha destroyed the clan they were after you and your sister..I barely escaped back then," he said removing his mask.

He was older than me by a few years, age lines apparent on the corners of his mouth, he had a red eyes with black spots in them and a purple eye with many black circles in it, he had a few bags under them, his nose was long and straight, and he smiled with his thin lips but his smile was warm. Messy black spiky hair had the 'hat hair' look as he brushed his gloved hand through it. I looked at him and then felt along my own face to see if we had any similarities. My nose was shorter, but my eye shape was similar and jawline could be a possibility but he didn't try to attack me or do anything suspicious.

"How are we related?" I asked.

"I adopted you and your sister a long time ago," he said, "I wanted you to live in peace and erased all your memories prior to make sure that you would be safe. Those who would have known you were part of the clan were all dead, since you weren't born in Konoha originally."

"Where was I born?" I asked.

"Ame," he said, "Your mother died in childbirth with you. I wish I could have saved her but it was impossible. With our name being wanted I didn't allow you to take the last name Uchiha."

"Why do they not like us?" I asked.

"They were afraid of us, they thought we wanted to take over Konoha, but we wanted peace," he said.

"So are you my dad or something?" I asked again.

"Here," he said walking over to me and kneeling down, "Touch my forehead and you will learn everything about yourself."

"Will it hurt?" I said leaning away, scared.

"No, it shouldn't," he said.

"O-okay," I said touching his forehead.

I touched his forehead and memories assaulted my mind. I could see vague places and I could see him looking at me when I was young...in a few short moments I could see my life. Then I could see him try and help us as we fell off the cliff before he watched as Konoha nin found us and took us away from him. My question of what I was to him wasn't answered but he was familiar and it looked like he took care of me and a pink haired girl called Yuki.

"Nii-san?" I asked after taking my hand off him,

"You can call me that," he smiled.

"It didn't hurt," I smiled, "Thank you Nii-san."

"Do you want to stay here for a while longer?" he asked.

"Yes...I am sleepy," I yawned.

"Ah your chakra control knowledge must have been erased after they injected you with that serum," he frowned.

"I was injected," I said grabbing my neck.

"Yes, I am afraid so. They made a drug to keep you from asking questions and having hallucinations about me being the bad guy. I don't know if the drug is still in your system and I don't have any medical knowledge," he said hugging me, "I am just glad you are back."

"Thank you nii-san," I smiled before laying down, "Will you be here when I wake up?"

"I will," he said, "I promise."

* * *

1. I know Kabuto doesn't really slither like a snake unless he is in his snake form, but I will be using 'creepy' and 'morbid' ways of describing him because of his nature and the fact he has part of Orochimaru in him...which as an author, gives me great leverage on some jokes and a lot more good stuff.

2. I wanted to make up a relation to Sasuke, Itachi, and Madara. I don't know if they are actually blood related but I imagine that his younger brother Izuna would have had children and lets just say in this universe that they are related.

**Textrodotoxin:** Harvested from the Puffer Fish, and known as Zombie Powder..Tetrodotoxin blocks action potentials in nerves by binding to the voltage-gated, fast sodium channels in nerve cell membranes, essentially preventing any affected nerve cells from firing by blocking the channels used in the process. It can paryalize the the diaphram and other muscels givng people the 'death-like' state for several days after they have been injected with the toxin. The symptoms are Paresthesia of the lips and tongue is followed by sialorrhea, sweating, headache, weakness, lethargy, incoordination, tremor, paralysis, cyanosis, aphonia, dysphagia, seizures, dyspnea, bronchorrhea, bronchospasm, respiratory failure, coma, and hypotension. Gastroenteric symptoms are often severe and include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and abdominal pain. Cardiac arrhythmias may precede complete respiratory failure and cardiovascular collapse.

**Curare: **A posion made from various pants into an anistesia or a weapon when coated onto blow darts, arrow heads, or other crude weaponry. Curare is an example of a non-depolarizing muscle relaxant that blocks the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR), one of the two types of acetylcholine (ACh) receptors. This was once used for surguries to replace Ether, Choloroform, and Clyclopropane which ran a high risk of killing the elderly or those with heart problems. However if overdosed it causes a drop in blood pressure. LoL...now you know why Nagato was given this...

**Kuchiyose: Edo Tensei: Summoning: Impure World Resurrection-**The Summoning: Impure World Resurrection is a forbidden technique used to revive the dead. It was originally developed by Tobirama Senju, and later completed by Orochimaru. Kabuto now claims to have mastered it to a degree even higher than them. Kabuto also claims this technique to be the "greatest, most powerful technique in the shinobi universe", as it poses no risk at all to the user. To perform this technique, the user must first acquire some of the DNA of the person they intend to revive. Kabuto remarks that this basically amounts to grave-robbing, although blood stains or organs salvaged after the target's death also work. The soul of the intended revived must also reside in the pure world (浄土, jōdo); those whose soul has been consumed by the Death God, for example, cannot be resurrected. Next, a living sacrifice is required for the soul of the resurrected to use as a vessel.[2] Once all prerequisites for the technique have been met, the acquired DNA of the person is smeared on a special scroll and once the scroll is activated, the remains spread out in the form of a special seal with the living sacrifice in the centre. Then dust and ash encase the sacrifice's body, giving them the same appearance that the revived had at the time of their death. The process is apparently somewhat painful as seen when Fū was used to revive Torune. The person is then revived and the end product is usually stored in a casket until summoned by the user. The user can theoretically revive a limitless number of people in this way, so long as they have enough sacrifices, chakra and DNA to perform the technique

**Musical Inspairation- **Sweet Dreams- Marylin Manson (Cover)

When You're Evil- Voltaire

* * *

**Sukaretto Miyuki: **Well thanks for the definition but I already knew what clever was. As for the Shinobi War, there have been three prior to the one you are talking about (FOURTH Shinobi War). Itachi, Minato, Danzo, Kakashi, and most of the older characters have been in or know about the Third Shinobi War. Okay, hun Aiko thought Hidan was a body guard for her target, so she took him out so he wouldn't alert the others...No the guy wasn't someone you would know and I didn't give him a name because he was introduced and died practically in the same story. Yes, Ran-Mao (Ranmao, or however it is spelled atm) uses the decorative clubs as her weapons, remember I based your character off her a bit. You are from Kiri love, it happens...remember until recently Kiri's Graduation Exam was to kill your classmates and the ones who survived became ninja. As for scaring the four, your character did know the Akatsuki members quite well. She was the head, if not only med-nin in Ame. Yes I did quite well on the match ups, hehee. -reads rest of review- Down girl...DOWN! -hands cookie- Good girl...(sorry couldn't resist).

**ThorLuvR: **Aww, if you want **you **can have Deidara, maybe calm him down from blowing up stuff. Well I wanted my readers to guess who gave her the handcuffs. Well I may bring up the hands thing in later chapters...Idk. Miyuki is actually the OC character of **Sukaretto Miyuki **she was mentioned in _Healing Process_ and I decided to bring her back...and date Suigetsu. I will get to the firting, as morbid as it is, well more of it anyway. LOL, perhaps...I might as well make you his OC girlfriend..but that really is up to you.

**gunitatsuhiko: **Glad you like it and I apologize for they typo, I will go back and fix it. Wow really? I feel loved...You are welcome. Like I said, it is YOU readers that make all this possible. Yes I have a morbid sense of humor, I just didn't want to bring it out too early. I didn't want to scare you guys off, but I am amazed that you guys like it! Made me smile.

**Alpenwolf:** Yes you get to see funny moments with them, and a lighter side of both characters we would have never gotten to see in the Cannon. I have plans for those couples -evil laugh- Yes, glad you liked Kori's birthday bit...As for the link it didnt work...I even took out all the spaces and tried multiple times.


	37. Chapter 37:A Beautiful, yet Ugly World

**Land of Fire**

**No POV**

A small girl with short choppy red hair with two braid on the right side, big brown eyes, and two horned golden clips on either side of her head, wandered the land. She wore a short black kimono with flames along the bottom and the end of the left sleeve, since the right was torn off at the shoulder, a large obi was tied in a bow that was lavender with pink sakura petals flowing at the ends, intead of wearing shoes she wore bandages wrapped around her legs starting from her upper thigh and wrapping around her feet that were stained with dirt and blood from some of the rougher trips. A long red scarf was wrapped around her neck and the ends dangled just past her knees. As for weapons she carried two bladed tonfa that were secured on the right side of her obi and slightly clacked together with each step. This girl was amazed at the sight around her, she had heard of forests like these but never felt grass under her feet. Thinking back she would never go there again.

**A year ago.**

"Nao!" snapped an old monk, "Stop being so childish. You are supposed to be the wise one who teaches the future generations! Go back and study, there is no time to be wasted on playing games."

"Tch," she scoffed, "I am only sixteen! I have plenty of time to learn all that junk."

"You are of the great Kaosutira Clan," said the monk, "Though we do not practice openly anymore, we keep our traditions alive.."

"Yeah," she rolled her eyes, "All I get to do is carve out old heeps of stone all day. I am tired off all that. I can already make fifty statues, sixty wood ones, and over a hundred clay...Kami.."

"Watch your tone!" he said smacking her upside the head, "Your last little attempt failed and security is doubled."

"Woo," she muttered under her breath sarcastically.

"What did you say?" he said raising his eyebrow.

"It has been sixteen years! Why can't I even peek over the wall?" she asked.

"The world has rotted and its people are living in starvation and are depraved, violent, and greedy. Our 'Blessed Ones' must stay pure of heart and shall not be exposed to such debauchery!" he shrieked.

"How would you know," she said in bordem, "You haven't left here since the last century."

He hit her again, "I thought solitude would have given you a chance to make peace with your spirit. As wild as it is. Just accept that you are blessed."

"Blessed..BLESSED! I can't even see the sunset, I am watched all day and night, I don't have any friends, you guys have sticks up your butts, and I swear if I breathe wrong I get two hours of lecture and five pages of things to write! I swear I have copied the entire library at least seven times," she said throwing her hands in the air.

She was harshly grabbed by the ear, "Well I have no idea where your tongue has learned to say such terrible things, but after this you will copy the library and ancient texts again!"

"Ow, ow, ow," she hissed while being dragged away.

While she was busy that night, copying down the stupid history of chakra, ninjutsu, gentjustu, and all the other things she didn't really care about she heard a light snore outside the door. She quietly opened the old thing and saw her instructor...or keeper from hell in 'meditation'. Smiling evily she got the scroll she had spent months working on and stuffed it into bag while sneaking out and gathering her things. This time she would make it, she was sure of it. Her clay making skills were superior and they all knew it. Why couldn't she go outside? What was so terrible they had to protect her from? Inhaling sharply...she sighed, there was no going back.

Ten minutes later she leapt over the wall with glee as her dolls were causing chaos all along the temple's grounds. She was about to prepare an earth justu when someone grabbed her robes. It was him! Her silly instructor had caught up with her...Biting her lip she attacked him with various swift strikes, and took off, but while preforming handseals he grabbed her sleeve. As she swung down she took her tonfa and cut the seem of the robe and heard it rip as she fell down the sheer 'bottomless' drop of the temple and the mountain it was hidden in. Keeping her calm she quickly finished the seals and used her tonfa to slow her down by digging it into the wall before a smooth stone shelf appeared from the wall under her. Using her skill in earth jutsu, she made various shelves to jump down and escape as fast as she could...

A few days later she found herself in a small village. However she was cautious at first, well until she got hungry. When her stomach rumbled she looked through her bag and found that during the fall, the bag was damaged and all her supplies were missing. She heard about trading goods for other things so she tried to think of something she had she could trade. She needed her clothes and her weapons were irreplaceable, she wasn't sure if they still used them on the outside. Watching the people she found that some people took small coins and bills called yen to trade for goods. The last thing that they had on people were when they used goods to trade for other goods or services. She figured that those coins were just easier to keep up with rather than loads of stock or other items. She needed them and watched carefully...

Eventually she was found by a small boy who was in ragged clothing and was all dirty. He came up to her and tugged on her kimono hem, "Don't ask. If you do they will get mad."

She tilted her head in the boy's direction, "Hmm? Ask for what?"

"Food or Yen," he said, "But I doubt you are like me. So where are you from?"

"The mountains," she simply stated, "It was so isolated, we never saw anyone so I don't know much about this place."

**Over Time...the girl learned from the young boy about life lessons. At first his friends, who were all orphans because of illnes or other unfortunate circumstances, told her to pass for a preistess, which really wasn't a lie but it really wasn't the truth. Over time that excuse didn't work anymore and she wanted her new family to have something so with time they made a small band of thieves and eventually stole enough for her to feed them properly and get them clothing and medicine if she couldn't find it herself. She even found a way to build them shelter outside of town so they would have a warm place to sleep. When the villagers saw her they always kept close watch on thier coinpurse and called her many things. Not that she cared, they were the nasty ones leaving children to fend in the harsh enviorment and not even letting them have food. She earned a small title over the few months she spent in the village, which suited her just fine...Mari the Keeper, or Keeper Mari. That nickname was brought by all the children that looked up to her and she 'kept' them out of harms way and **_**mostly**_** out of trouble and gave them places to live. Some were thankful for what she did but others were not so. **

**Eventually her infamy rose to pique the intrest and distain of a noble that lived nearby. Which to him she didn't matter, only the fine silks her charges took from it's delivery to his house, and a few other things that were stolen that mattered. So he wrote to the nearest shinobi village to have her handled in any manner possible, but if he had his way, she would be dead so his belongings were never stolen again. **

**Today..**

**Konoha**

**No POV**

Tsunade had revived request after request, and now the letters were more of a demand. The village that was being 'plagued' by thieves was one that lied on a central trade route with Konoha. Normally she would allow the local athoraties to handle it, but this noble was insistent that _she_, as Hokage, handle it. Sighing and rubbing her temples, she thought of what she was going to do. Kori was still missing, she had a whole war to plan and it was nearly time for the Summit to convene. Luck struck her as it just so happened that Deidara walked through her office door with tactical information, along with his normal attitude, which got on Tsunade's nerves.

"Deidara," she said, "I would like you to take care of something for me. Since you have stayed here and are now considered part of Konoha, I have a mission. It shouldn't take too long and you may take whom ever you wish but this needs to be delt with. A local village not far from here is plagued by bandits and the noble who lives there is demanding I do something about it before he cuts off that small portion of the trade route to Konoha. Not that it would directly stop trade, but the surrounding area is mountainous and some cargo can not go up the steep trails and there are actual bandits that hide out there. All you need to do is investigate and stop who ever is doing this to him...and I quote 'All my personal belongings are being taken by the lowlife pigs that plague this town and cause nothing but trouble.'"

"Sounds like kids, un," he shrugged.

"Well the previous war left many homeless, perhaps their children are suffering..While I can't help everything I have to see something done about this, and damn the daimnyo if he didn't just forward these letters to me," she sighed, "Take care of it."

"I am not a baby sitting service, un," he scoffed.

"If you do not leave you will be a new stain on the wall," she threatened.

"Fine," he huffed before turning on his heels, "Then you get to deal with this un!"

He tossed the papers up in the air and left quickly to do this ridiculous job that was tasked to him. It was less than a day's travel but he already wanted to kill someone. Lee jumped in on the invitation after he mentioned it to Hidan, who was supposed to be going but had prior engagements with Aiko. The rest of them were either too busy or were no where to be found, thankfully to save his sanity Neji offered to help as well, muttering something about what Kori would do. Lee was straining on his nerves talking about some Youth junk that was apparently passed down to him from his grossly identical sensei, Guy, and the only thing keeping Dei from putting C4 into the shinobi's next meal was the fact he could do whatever he wanted to the so called bandits.

When they arrived they met with the noble who pointed them in the right direction of where the so-called Honorable Thieves were hiding. Walking through the forest, Neji got a strange chakra reading with his Byakugan.

"There is a shinobi nearby, strong chakra, and the pathways are coated in something, or leaking. Whatever this person it, I doubt they would be happy to see us," claimed Neji.

"So, just let me get in range of these bandits and we will see how long they last un," said Deidara.

"Hold on," said Lee pointing ahead through the brush, "Look, a kid. What are they doing out here?" Lee walked out and smiled, but the boy ran off screaming, "What did I do?"

"Baka," huffed Neji, "Whoever they were, they could have been part of the bandit group."

"What sort of youthful and bright child would stoop to the lowly and petty crimes like thievery?" asked Lee.

"Orphans who live on the street. You get hungry enough, you will do anything to survive," said Deidara, "When I fled my village, before I was a highly wanted criminal, it was hard. Eventually I earned a name and I never went hungry again...but I also had to watch where I slept."

Before too long there was a girl who rushed to where the boys were. She couldn't be any older than Deidara herself, and she looked no better than the children, but there was something strange about her. When Neji looked at her, he told them she was the one with the high chakra signature.

"Leave," she said, "No one is allowed in this forest. Not without permission, and you do not have permission."

"Hn," scoffed Deidara, "So what are you?"

"Keeper Mari," she bit.

"Then you are the one that we were told to stop," said Lee beginning to croutch.

"Stand down or you will die," she narrowed her eyes.

"What could you do to three shinobi?" asked Deidara, "You are outnumbered and out classed, un."

"No," she closed here eyes, "Neither of which are true. Dark haired one with the white eyes, Hyuga Clan, he will be the hardest target. The rest of you are not much trouble. Blond one, you haven't taken a stance so you must either specialize in genjustu or ninjutsu, and the other has taken a crane stance, probably going to try and knock me down with a Lotus."

"Impressive, but no," informed Lee, "I am a master of the taijutsu arts."

"Good, then you will give my dolls a work out," she smiled before preforming a hand seal.

Neji saw the path of her chakra and watched it branch from her feet preforming an invisable seal to the naked eye. As she did so, it looked like a spider's web danced around her before the arcs of chakra darted off and now rested in the ground. The chakra then began to take the form of a flame before something underneath them moved. Jumping away he called to the others.

"It is a trap, move!" he commanded while taking refuge away from the mass that was under him.

Within moments Neji could see twently flames of chakra beginning to shift around and unearth themselves. A few moments more he was starring at an ancient practice..golem forging. Since ninjutsu was now a vast array of skills and techniques, he doubted she learned on her own and that her master was either far away or dead. Deidara however, and Lee, were happy about this new development. Lee could now strike multiple enemies and see how many he could damage with a few strikes and Deidara was already making bombs with his hands and tossing them at the golems.

The golems themselves were made out of earth and stone, yet they were not made to withstand shinobi's attacks and were probably used just to keep the normal civillian villagers and local athoraties away from the site that they used to hide out at. Using his clan skill, Neji took out multiple targets with little effort.

The girl however, she wasn't looking distressed or anything and simply waited until all the previous golems were shattered before she did anything. Crossing her hands over her chest she stared them down, "Alright..so you can smash my dolls. Tch, like it really helps. Like I said, leave or die." After speaking the golems themselves began to reform and attack again, and yet no matter how hard they beat them back the golems kept coming. As they did she disappeared with her friend.

Lee stepped up and called to the others, "I will take care of these, go on a head."

Deidara and Neji moved on head but Mari was prepared. The guys had to move through a thick mesh of shrubs and she carefully hid wires and smaller puppet-like golems inside that would intertwine together and make a net, or capture the targets. Fortunatly Neji saw the chakra signature before they could spring on them. Moving ahead, it was now down to Deidara, who by this time was pissed that a small girl could cause so much trouble. He had already readied his explosive clay and all he needed was to find her. He then used his eye scope as best he could and found her not too far away taking out a scroll and setting it on the ground near a small cave...

Mari was in the middle of preparing her crystal stone and her metal golems that she used as personal guards. She had spent years working on them to help her escape and now it was about time she put them to use. She laid out the scroll and was about to summon them out when a suprise visitor landed nearby.

"My Lady Nao," bowed a monk.

"Shit!" she hissed, "Now what?" About that time Deidara had emerged from the tree line and looked at both her and then the monk, sighing she said, " I had to ask, didn't I?"

"More reinforcements un?" asked Deidara.

"Get back my lady!" called the monk as he crouched down in tiger stance.

Using her training she struck the monk on the back of the head, knocking him out in one swift strike. As he landed on the ground she looked at him and then the blond boy that was after her. Making up things as she went was now going to prove useful to her, she paused for a moment and held up her hands.

"Get me out of here and I will owe you a great debt," she told Deidara.

"You are giving up?" asked Deidara, "Why?"

"If those people catch me," she said pointing to the monk, "I will be locked inside that damn prision for the rest of my life...or worse, lectures. You want to stop me, and I could use you."

"You do not really have anything to barter with me, un," smiled Deidara.

"Yes, I do," she said, "I can do lots of things that are useful. You fell into my traps and your friends are still preoccupied with my golem dolls. I am from the Kaosutira clan..."

"They died out ages ago," snorted Deidara, "and thier kekkei genkai was lost."

"Well they didn't die, they hid away like rats..or some other thing...anyway. If I prove that I am useful to you...can you get me out of here? I really don't care what happens about how you do it, but I don't want the monk following me. If he made it this far, they are looking for me."

"Why?" asked Deidara.

"Well I was the 'chosen one' thing and they wanted me to live out the life I was given to serve, learn, and teach others that were of the bloodline when I was older. Though I really didn't want that for my life. I built all the golem dolls that you have seen myself...and I carry lost secrets that have probably died over the years. Isn't that enough?" she asked quickly, "I want to see the world, if only just once. I want to prove that they were wrong about this amazing place."

"What about the others? My friends," he said, "Have you killed them?"

"No those dolls were meant to seperate you out...I didn't want you to know who I was but with that thing here, there really wasn't much of a choice here. My given name was Nao Kaosutira, but my chosen name is Keeper Mari or just plain old Mari," she said before preforming a hand seal, "Your friends will be here shortly. Tired and bruised but otherwise unharmed."

A few seconds later Neji and Lee were there looking a little roughted up but otherwise fine, like she said. When her dolls let them go, she broke the seal she used to keep them together and regenerating and they all broke apart into the rough material they started out as. After she was finished with that, she took her hand to her face and shattered it, revealing another face under it. Her eyes were a now a simple bright clear blue pair of eyes. Then she pulled back her 'hair', it was just a modified wig, revealing dark green-blue braids underneath. As her skin gave way, she actually had a slight tan and a birthmark or tatoo of a fox was on the back of her neck when she brushed her hair out of the way. Sighing she broke her 'outer shell' and now was only standing five foot one, instead of the five foot five she had in the clay exterior.

"Ah that feels nice, I will miss the hair and the over use of sandstone and other materials, but my skin can breathe," she said stretching, "God living in a giant mask all your life is exausting."

Deidara looked at her funny, "Why did you do that?"

"The clay shell?" she said raising an eyebrow,"Well my hair was always kept dyed with pigments when I was younger. As I got older I started adding to my mask on what I thought would look appealing and eventually I made the whole body suit so they wouldn't find me once I escaped when I got the chance. I had been wearing that for quite some time now...almost ten years. Don't worry the mud that was used was replaced nightly while I was only allowed the privacy of a bath at night..other than that I had a monk breathing down my throat telling me what to do. So I ran off. I found these kids and they needed help and I have been here ever since."

"I know how that feels," said Neji, "I guess my clan isn't the only ones with expectations."

After a few minutes of talking with the others, Deidara was outnumbered on if they should take her along with them or not. He didn't like it, because he didn't have the chance to blow everything up into wonderful art. After they decided she had began to mix earth and other powders together and made a clay doll that was filled with something. When she explained it, it was nothing more than a small stand in for her body to fake her death while Dei could do anything he wanted. Though she had to mix in some of her blood to make sure that they would belive that she was dead, she thought the doll was done rather well. When she finished, she bid her friends goodbye, though she didn't want to, and Dei got his way of blowing something up as he had a bit too much fun of turning the doll into chunks of what it used to resemble.

On the way to Konoha Mari kept asking everyone questions. Lee was only too happy to answer, Neji would only answer if Lee couldn't or didn't know the answer, and Deidara was about ready to blow the nearest thing to heaven about now. When she ran out of questions about Konoha, she decided to ask personal ones.

"Hey are you two girls?" she asked.

Lee dropped to the ground laughing while both Deidara and Neji stopped. Both had evil auras around them and Lee wanted to help but he was lacking the needed oxygen to move and his sides hurt.

"No!" they both yelled.

"Oh okay," she smiled, "Well where I am from men don't wear long hair. I was just wondering, and you two have flat chests so I thought.."

"Please shut up," said Deidara, "You have been talking non stop for the past two hours."

"So do you guys have anyone in your lives..I don't know if they call it that anymore but a wife?" she asked.

"No," smiled Lee, "I am not married but Sakura-chan is the only one for me."

Neji rolled his eyes, "My girlfriend is Kori, though I haven't seen her in a while. She is missing."

"I am sorry to hear that Neji," she said recalling thier names in her head, "What about you Deidara?"

"No," he said, "Did anyone tell you that you talk too much?"

"I haven't had a actual person to talk to my entire life," she huffed, "Now I have three of you! Are there more?"

"People?" laughed Neji, "There are lots of people in the world."

"No, like you," she giggled, "Friendly and nice. So what is a girlfriend?"

"A girlfriend is the girl that you spend time with and be nice to and talk with, and generally show affection towards or share affection with," said Lee, "You can go out on dates and be happy together before you are married."

"So is this a date? I mean if you two have a girlfriend, and Deidara doesn't...am I his date?" she asked.

Deidara snapped something at her, jumped up, and had his legs wrapped around her neck to try and choke her out, and he would have used his hands but Lee and Neji had his wrists and were pulling him off her, "It is a mercy killing I swear!"

She got up rather unfazed by the look of it, "Um is that what normally happens on a date..you said they show affection, and his legs were hugging me..rather tightly."

Deidara then wretched himself out of the grip of both Lee and Neji and went after Mari.

**Meanwhile..**

Tsunade was at her desk finishing paper work when all of a sudden a loud bang innterrupted her. She looked outside and saw the small mushroom cloud and was very irked that Deidara was back, and in a foul mood...

Mari stood there with her hair blown back and her face covered in soot while blinking at Deidara. Neji and Lee had vacated the area and tried to save Mari, but Deidara on a rampage was not a good thing. Thankfully Mari had only just cracked her face, and one could see she wore another outer shell. This was made from some heavy marble and other similar stone otherwise she might have actually died in the explosion. When she saw Deidara just begin laying down she looked at him.

"I am sorry," she said, "I shouldn't have said that. But your temper is getting the better of you! I don't even have to think much to get you riled."

"I give," he said, hair stil slightly singed from him being so close to the explosion.

"I don't," she smiled over him, "I apologize for being annoying, but I haven't had a decent conversation in years. This world...it is so big and I have a lot to learn. I know you wish I would shut up and stop annoying you but that is the way I am. Deal with it. Um, since you are not a girl...and have no relationship...I don't feel bad about telling you that I think you are cute.."

Deidara rose up and looked at her, "You think I am cute? Even though I have the hands?"

"Yep..makes you special..Hell I can steal faces..why would I be freaked out by mouth hands?" she smirked, "By the way, you don't do anything perverted with those...Do you?"

"No!" he quickly said, "They are for molding my clay into shapes quickly..Kami they have teeth!"

"Oh I was just curious," she said tilting her head to the side, "There were a lot of scrolls that were kept away from everyone that I found and they said some pretty intresting things about anatomy and physiology and phycology and other things...there was one with pictures of two people doing things I didn't think possible...what was the title..."

All three guys blushed red. Neji cleared his throat, "Let's just go to Tsunade. She has probably seen the explosion and is upset."

"Tsunade?" asked Mari.

"The Hokage," said Lee, "You will like her. She will fill you in on any questions you may have and she will help you find a place to stay."

"I wanna stay with Deidara," pouted Mari, "He is the only one who has ever shown me any respect! Not all that false crap I got in the Monestary. Real life dealing with me. He showed me that I can be annoying and all that! I want to live near him if possible. If that is alright with you Deidara."

"That is the reason you like me is because I was honest with you un?" asked Deidara.

"Yeah, I mean Lee and Neji are nice, but...they aren't like you," she smiled.

Neji just shook his head and sighed, "And it starts.*"

"What does?" asked Mari.

"Oh like hell it does! I would rather be stabbed repeatedly by Hidan and his crazy girlfriend Aiko before 'it' happens," scoffed Deidara before getting up and walking away, fuming.

"Okay seriously," said Mari.

"Don't worry about it," said Lee, "Deidara is hard to get along with because of his temper."

"I am so confused," said Mari when she followed the others to Tsunade's office.

* * *

(1) This is actually a quote from Lion King where Timon and Pumba are talking right before thier mini song plays before 'Can you feel the love tonight.' I thought it was funny and appropriate since their are three guys and a new chick shows up and we all know he will cave eventually.

**Kaosut****īra**(顔スティーラ) means 'Face Stealer', the 'clan' was named after thier jutsu that could steal the faces of thier enemies and they were the father's of the Transformation Techniuque, to take it a step farther, they began making clay dolls to replace these people to spy on others. They were eventually sought after and it almost brought a war, so to save the clan, they went into hiding. They scattered to the winds and lived amoung peoples of the contries never again practicing thier talent of 'face stealing' but it was a rumor that one hidden temple still taught the old arts to blessed children. These children usually have birthmarks of them resembleing a kitsune, a shapeshifting spirit known for trickery in Japaneese culture. Though in most cases, the birthmark itself will fade over time, only those with extremely high chakra amounts or those belived to be reincarnations of the former masters retain this mark through their lives. They would become the next Master of the Arts. Though they are looked highly upon, they usually have the most restricted lifestyle in order to keep them focused and pure.

They way that they 'stole faces' was to mix earth, water chakra together with sleeping agents and stick the mix onto the victim, when they 'slept' the mask would 'grow' and flaten out and the theif would remove the face impression and bake it with fire chakra. Once this is done a permenant cast is created and they could carve out dolls from wood, stone, sand, and other mixtures to impersionate these people to spy or fill in for them if the person was killed. They may have also been the first puppeteers but since the 'dolls' are not manipulated by chakra strings it is unlikely.

**NAO** (1-直, 2-尚): Japanese unisex name meaning 1) "docile" or 2) "esteemed." Mari's origonal name given to her because she was one of the four 'blessed' children.

**MARI**: Japanese form of English Mary, meaning "obstinacy, rebelliousness" or "their rebellion." Compare with another form of Mari. This was the name given to her by some villagers when she was traveling around trying to learn about the world.

**"Mari"** was based off of Talim (Sould Calibur series) and Katsumi (Dead or Alive) because she was raised in a temple and then she ran away and is new to the outside world. Her personality is based off of Mina Trepes (Dance in the Vampire Bund) because she is agressive, cocky, naughty sometimes, and rash, but she sympathizes with all the 'people' on the outside who were forced to live in the horrors outside, and Saya Takagi (Highschool of the Dead) because her growing up because the monks would often call her blessed one and never actually got to know her, and she is very creative when it comes to making traps and escapes due to the various ways she tried getting

out of the Temple years before. Her look was based off of Kamikirimusi (Soul Calibur 4).

* * *

**ThorLuvR: **Here you go, though I spent more time on the meeting than the actual relationship bonding. But there, Dei is yours...and expect lots of funny to come from that relationship. We haven't even got to her perverted side because hey she is new to this side of the world.

**gunitatsuhiko: ** Yes, yes she is. I will get around to filling in some of the relationship between them in the next chapter hopefully. We will see bits of what is happening to Kori and then we will see relationship building in the next chappy.

**Alpenwolf:** Kori was actually posioned by Kabuto which caused her to lose her memory. The two voices that she heard were Tsunade and Sasuke's thoughts. I will give you 'Tobi's' explination of it in the next chapter. Thank you for the link. I loved it. Made me giggle a lot.

**Sukaretto Miyuki:** Oh I am sorry to hear that you were sick. I hope you are doing better. Right now I am lucky that I had enough time to do this chapter. My life has been crazy so far and I have finally managed to get some time in. Anyway I hope you like it.

* * *

**River: **Sorry it took so long but I got the chapter in. This introduces **ThorLuvR's** OC Mari the Facedancer Monk...well more like a priestess. Anyway I though you guys could use a break from the heavy and get some funny in before I go and try and fit in relationship building along with the heavy to give a good blend of awesome to you guys. I hope you love it and I will get in the next chapter as soon as I can...

**P.S: **This chapter was named after an amazing, short, but amazing anime that you guys may like..**  
**


	38. Omake: The Dating Scene Part One

**Omake: The Dating Scene. Episode One.**

**No POV**

**Morbid Apology.**

Hidan was pacing in his room trying to figure out a way to make up to Aiko. Yesterday they had a slight disagreement about what type of torture should be used on victims for information, and that lead to Hidan ruining his good shirt because she played "ABC Stab" with his organs. That lead to him losing his temper and mentioning to her about Jashin, for the tenth time, and that lead to her stomping off and him trying to find a good seamstress to sew his head back on. It was times like that, that made him wish Kazuku was still around. He was at a loss of how to make it up to her, since she hadn't talked to him all day, and he really did miss all those times in the dungeon of hers, watching her work...and sometimes taking part.

He was amazed at her skill with any sort of weapon, which were all used with deadly efficacy but what he still hadn't figured out is exactly why she was a hunter-nin. She defiantly wasn't a regular one, considering her vast knowledge of keeping her targets alive for days at a time while extracting info...which really turned Hidan on when he thought about it. After wracking his brain for the final time he gave up, for the time being. He sure as hell wasn't going to actually apologize to her...at least not without the proper gift of flowers carved from skin and hardened with resin to present to her, another morbid way of Jashin, one which Hidan rarely used.

"Fuck!" he said stomping outside for some needed air. Upon making circles in Konoha, he just so happened to find Kori, who was shopping with Hinata for the day, "Kori!"

Kori turned around and smiled and waved at him, "Hey Hidan!"

He rushed over to her and decided that he may need some help with this one. Aiko was as beautiful as she was deadly and a jinchuriki in full a full blown rampage seemed like a tropical breeze when she was upset at something. He once saw her turn a tree into corks with one of her Senbon when she couldn't extract info from somebody. Sighing he caved, "I need your help. I made Aiko upset yesterday."

Kori backed off, "I am not poking that bear. Forget it. I once interrupted her work one day and my but still stings and fully remembers all twenty senbon having to be plucked out, hugging a cactus would be safer honestly."

"Well I want to apologize to her," he said looking away, "And neither I, nor the inspiration of Jashin can come up with anything."

"Boy you try to hard," mused Kori, "Okay she is one fry short of a happy meal when it comes to anger management BUT have you at least thought of something? You have to know how to apologize...or is this the gifting sort of apologize...she cut your sex life off didn't she?"

"Fuck yeah!" said Hidan, "And she threatened if I came anywhere near her, she would cut off something that was more personal than just turning me into a voodoo doll."

"Ouch," she winced, "Okay so she likes making people feel pain...right up your alley. I mean if you weren't a giant voodoo doll yourself then I would suggest that...Hmm. Well there is one thing I know that may perk her up and forgive you...where I come from it is considered art. Taking bodies of the deceased, who have volunteered, and placing resin within them to harden and then they are turned into artistic things...We don't have a fresh corpse, and no you aren't getting one...if you can find Mari, maybe she can help. Last time I saw her, she was stalking Deidara around the Memorial. Talk to both of them. I am sure Dei will love turning things into shrapnel for you. I will be over at the Hyuga Compound today, so you can find me there when you get Dei and Mari."

With that idea he used the body flicker technique to quickly find both Deidara and Mari. They were outside Konoha to be exact testing new formulas of Deidara's clay explosives...she even suggested some raw materials for him to use to make bigger bangs, brighter flashes, or incendiary bombs. Hidan spotted them behind a rock and was on his way over before he heard something.

"Shit! Hidan look...ouch," cried Mari.

"Beautiful...look he is even on fire!" said Deidara.

Hidan was pissed about having to feel the flesh being ripped and burned off his leg, and if he didn't know very good med-nin, and wasn't desperate at this point, he would have bashed Deidara's head into the rock he was hiding behind until it stopped being funny. Taking in a deep breath while putting out his leg, he limped over toward them.

"I need to borrow your girlfriend," teased Hidan, since he knew that subject was still tender to the blond.

"She is not my fucking girlfriend," said Deidara.

"Dude I don't want to know about your sex life," he teased again.

"That is it, I will blow your ass to the moon!" Deidara yelled while chasing after Hidan throwing random explosives around him.

"Cut it out," said Mari as she used a Earth Release on them to prevent them from moving. Though with Deidara, it wouldn't last long. Sighing she looked at Hidan, "Alright what are you doing here, immortal?"

"I wanted to ask a favor of you," said Hidan trying to wriggle free of the jutsu.

"Oh really?" asked Mari, "Of course, not many people ask me for favors because they really don't like me getting excited and talking to much, like I am now...oops. Sorry, Deidara is trying to break me of that habit."

"Well if he would stop being a fucking pussy and kiss you then maybe you would keep quiet for a few minutes," smirked Hidan.

"When I get my ass out of here, fuck heaven, I am blowing you to Hell!" said Deidara wriggling in the hole, managing to preform hand seals.

"Why would he kiss me? I am perfectly healthy, breathing correctly, and...oooh," she said when the thought finally hit her, "Y-you like me, Dei?"

Deidara quickly changed the subject, "Anyway, why do you need us, un?"

Hidan explained the situation and Mari was more than happy to help, and for some strange reason actually convinced Deidara to help. When they were ready, they headed back to the Hyuga Compound. Kori was already waiting for them, covered in all sorts of colors looking kind of flustered.

"What happened?" asked Mari.

"Er, me and Akira had a disagreement with what color his room should be painted after he had me change it randomly with my jutsu on a whim...well I lost concentration and it exploded. Things are alright, but both he and I look like cousins of Rainbow Brite," she said rubbing the back of her head, "I just hope this comes off before my date."

"So I brought the doll face and exploding wonder..what do we need to do?" asked Hidan.

"Ah, right," said Kori remembering why she invited them over, "Mari, I need you to create some doll golems to specifications that will take me a few seconds to draw out, Dei...just do what you do best, and I will need your assistance to Hidan. You are the expert of how things splatter..."

"Why would this matter?" asked Deidara.

"Well..I want a doll for her that shows a horrible death or various ways a person can die...Mari can make the 'corpse' and we can spend all day decorating it...well you can Hidan. I will leave a few recipes on my horror special effects with you if you need to make false flesh, blood, or other gore," said Kori, "I can only help for a few hours before I have to get cleaned up."

With that in hand, Kori finished up working with Akira Hyuga, and finally fixed his room to his liking and then helped Mari, Hidan, and Deidara. Between Hidan, Mari, and Kori, they had manufactured a few dolls made out of various types of materials; stone, paper, a jelly like substance, and wood. After looking at them Kori decided on making the stone the 'skeleton' while using the jelly substance as flesh, if she had the time to make more. Dei made various sized clay bombs and they exploded on different areas on the jelly and other materials so they could write down what happened. Though Deidara suggested tey use Hidan since he was immortal..but both Kori and Mari thought it was better not to. It was getting close to time for Kori to leave before they knew it and she wished them good luck before heading back to the Hyuga Compound to get cleaned up.

A few hours later, Hidan thought they had done well. After they pieced together the 'cadaver' he carefully took it back to where he knew he would find Aiko. She was busy as usual, though this time she was cleaning and sharpening her weapons that she kept, to help maintain them. Hidan knocked on her door, only to receive two throwing knives striking next to his face, and two inches below making him sing a higher tune.

"Well," he said, "I am fucking sorry that you are PMSing but I came to apologize."

Aiko stopped what she was doing and looked at him, "Are you sick? You apologize? Since when?"

"Since the most beautiful, deadly, down right sexiest thing walked in my life told me she was mad at me," he said, "Look here." He dropped the fake cadaver on one of her tables so she could look at it.

"Holy shit!" she said, "Is this real?"

"No, Kori wouldn't let me find a poor sacrifice for this...but it was a bitch to make, so I could see where she was coming from. About half of the local population of a small village went into making this," said Hidan.

"I love it!" she said hugging him before realizing what she did, "Alright, fine I forgive you.."

"Whew," he said, "If you didn't accept it, plan B would have gotten me in trouble with the neighbors of Konoha randomly disappearing..."

"Really?" she said, "Oh my god you are so sweet!"

"Eh," he shrugged, "Most call me an intolerable, insufferable, psychotic ass, which I believe you used yesterday."

"So what does it do?" she asked.

HIdan then showed her all the work that was put into the human-like sculpture. She could hang it various ways and pull back some of the jelly flesh to reveal places to keep her knives or other tools with the holding areas of the chest, where the heart would be, the arms of the doll came off and could be hanged or manipulated to look old or just recently cut off. the abdomen's left side would open out into slots that would reveal transverse slides of internal organs sliced in half inch sections, while the right would open up to look like they were blown up. The legs had special bamboo forged bones that had stones in them that would cause the wood to sound like it snapped when they were pressed or twisted a certain way. The face had a look of horror on it, and various parts were removable and the skin could be taken off to show the muscle or even bone underneath. To add a bit of 'cuteness' courtesy of Mari, the skull twisted off and in the cranium, there was a storage compartment full of things to make notes out of. Even with the new sparkle in her eye, she frowned a little looking around.

"Damn, I have to find a place to put it. So how heavy is this thing?" she asked.

"About a ninety pounds. It would have weighed more but whe had to hollow out some of the doll to make the fake junk and you really have to thank Mari for making it so fast," he said.

"I will, but I will thank you first, before torturing you for being this bloody brilliant," she smiled evilly.

The rest of the evening was filled with happiness for the two, with the exception of them getting too loud and having Itachi threaten to burn the building with them still inside if they didn't keep it down. Of course Itachi wouldn't have cared if it wasn't for Deidara cursing about it, Sasuke just going to his room sulking, Suigetsu and Miyuki cheering, and Kisame just randomly having a huge grin on his face while chuckling to himself.

**The Dating Scene: Episode Two **

**I Hope You Dance**

Miyuki was troubled to say the least. One of her best friends disappeared overnight, and her other friends Konan and Nagato were in the hospital in critical condition. She tried to do what she could, knowing since she was so close to the former Akatsuki Leader Pein, she wouldn't be able to treat him officially. Her mind was reeling about all the terrible things that had happened in the last few days, and she was mentally exausted. Suigetsu was starting to notice her well masked stress and decided to help out. He knew how she missed her former life, even though she would have been considered a criminal just associating with Nagato, much like he would have been if Sasuke didn't come back and Danzo was left in charge. He was already once put in a cage and he would be damned if he would run from a fight. Seeing Miyuki trying to hide her worry, made an unfamilar twinge hit Suigetu's heartstrings. Even training with Kisame wasn't helping him, when Kisame noticed he stopped the training.

"Kid, stop getting distracted. There is a war coming and unless you want to have your head severed off your body with your own weapon, pay attention," growled Kisame.

"Sorry senpai," said Suigetsu, "I don't know what is wrong. I can't help but feel upset when I see Miyuki trying to keep her burden of worry to herself. It is painful."

"Ah," said Kisame lowing his blade, "Well I am not the one you should ask those questions to. Perhaps Itachi can shed some light on the subject for you, or one of your other friends. Until you can get your head on straight, I won't be training with you anymore."

"What is a wrong? Gotten attached to my awesome mug?" teased Suigetsu.

"When you end up spending weeks at the same place with the same people, they grow on you, I suppose. I never really had a family and the only person I could come to terms with as far as friendship goes is Itachi himself. I am unfamilar with this whole familiy thing...so I would not be able to give you advice," he said.

"Still want to go back to the old life?" asked Suigetsu.

"Sometimes, but hell I can eat, sleep, and do whatever I want without someone trying to kill or capture me...It is boring but a interesting break from what I am used to. There are the amusing times of all of us trying to be in the same room together though, that never pans out well," Kisame laughed, "Sticking four former high ranking wanted criminals with shady backgrounds, two experiments, and I am pretty sure all but two of us are mentally unstable to a certain degree, in the same room leads to things getting messy."

"Admit it, you like it," said Suigetsu.

"I am just here until the war is over," said Kisame before walking off.

Suigetsu shrugged and went off to find Itachi. It didn't take long, Itachi was outside sipping tea while looking at the sky. Suigetsu sat down casually beside him.

Clearing his throat he began speaking, "What is on your mind?"

"How good it feels not to have to fight or wonder if I am going to wake up in the morning. I really have been trying to catch up on lost sleep," said Itachi between sips, "I just wish I had of seen the effects of my actions sooner. My brother could have avoided a lot of greif."

"Okay," Suigetsu said slowly, "Is that all you think about?"

"Sometimes," he said, "I wonder how my brother is going to grow up and be happy. I see all the friends he has made and try to do what is right by him from now on. Aside from that I am just happy being home again. I never thought I would see it again."

"Hm," said Suigetsu, "I have a question. Kisame said you may be able to answer it."

"Really," said Itachi raising his eyebrow, "What is this about?"

"Miyuki," he replied frowning, "I don't know. I feel a ache in my chest when I see her trying to hold together her small fragile smile. She is worried about everything and I am afraid she is going to break down. Is there anything I can do to help?"

"I see," said Itachi, "While I am not the best person to ask, given that I killed my last lover, I will try to answer it. I think what you are feeling is shared pain to an extent. It hurts you to see her like that and you are guilty because you don't know what to do to help. Perhaps taking her mind off things would be a good start. Do you know of anything she likes?"

"I think so, she came from Ame and it used to rain a lot. I heard from Kori once that she liked rain," he shrugged, "I don't think I can change the weather for her."

"I am sure you can think of something," said Itachi, "You are bright."

Suigetsu smiled and went to look after Miyuki after that. After he found her, she was trying to smooth out her hair, and try to look away from him so he wouldn't notice the bags under her eyes. Sighing he looked at what she was wearing and figured that it wouldn't matter if she got a bit wet. Instead of her usual get up, Yuki had taken her shopping with Ino and got her some clothes. Today she was wearing a soft purple top with a design on it of a stick breaking in half saying 'oh snap!' with simple capris and some light colored sandals. He watched her carefully for a moment before he grabbed her wrist and asked her to follow him.

"Where are we going?" she asked.

"You will see," said Suigetsu.

After an hour they were at the river near Konoha memorial. She stood there for a moment totally confused by the whole into the water, Suigetsu used his Hydrafication Technique to make the water rise up along with him. He smiled at her, "I know you miss the rain, so I thought I would give it to you." With those words he began to cause the river to have a small geyser, spraying water into the sky, only to have it fall on Miyuki.

Miyuki stood there for a moment before she sobbed. Suigetsu seeing her distress thought he did something wrong. So she smiled widely, and whole heartedly before trying to tackle hug the mass of water Suigetsu was occupying, "Thank you!"

When she just went through him she stood on the water's surface and began to twirl and dance while singing some of her favorite childhood songs out loud. After a good ten mintue dance or so, she was tired and the weather was turning cold. Suigetsu tried to keep her warm by hugging her until they got back to the compound. She snuggled into his chest before humming.

"Hmm. If I get a cold...best...one...ever..." she mused, "Thank you so much Suigetsu."

"You are welcome," he smiled before hugging her tighter, "Just please don't hold stuff in like that anymore. It hurt to watch you suffer like you did and I knew I couldn't do anything about it."

"You did more than you know," she said before sneezing, "Alright..this girl needs hot water before she freezes."

After that, they quickly got to the Uchiha Compound where Suigetsu made some hot soup while she took a bath and changed out of her soggy clothes. The rest of the evening was spent with them sitting quietly in her room talking about random things until they eventually fell asleep.

**The Dating Scene: Episode Three**

**My Bubbles**

**Kori's POV**

It was a beautiful day and I wanted to get out. After spending the night with Hinata at the Hyuga Compund I was itching for some excitement. Don't get me wrong they were slowly turning into decent people, and a few of them were wonderful, but things happened here at a snails pace. Neji had arrived from a mission late last night but I didn't feel like waking him up with my cold ass at night or this morning just so I could cuddle. So I thought of a better plan. Bubbles.

Neji was no doubt a bit worked up since his mission so I was going to give him a good morning workout...in the non-perverted variety to my inner fangirl pout of frustration and then let him soak in a bubble bath of lavender and vanilla. That would be great. So I waited until he was fully awake before I decided to hug him and rope him into my plan.

"Morning Neji," I said kissing him on the cheek.

"Morning..." he said before he stopped in his tracks, "Wait...you are up earlier than me. What gives?"

"Nothing I swear. Nothing broken, maimed, plotted, stolen, defaced, missing, injured, or any of the sort...promise," I said holding up my hands in peace.

I was jerked towards his body in a quick hug, "Okay I am dreaming...I have to be dreaming."

"I can rape you...it is never to late or early to rape you," I teased.

"Okay so you are my girlfriend and not one of those brain stealing...what were they called?" he asked forgetting my old world lingo.

"Body snatchers love, body snatchers. No I am not a body snatcher, parasite, zombie, vampire, or any more unusual or normal than I was yesterday," I said enjoying the hug," I just want to know if you are up for a spar."

"After the spar," said Neji, in more of a demanding tone than an inquisitive one.

"Just a bath...you alone..." I said, "You looked tense and I didn't really think sex-er-cise would be good for you."

"Alright," he said, "Sounds innocent enough. Are the bubbles going to dye my hair and or skin a funny shade."

"No," she sighed, "I am not impish today..maybe tomorrow someone will suffer at my hand."

Neji actually enjoyed the spar we had. I kept it so that it wasn't too intense but I would help work his muscles. After two hours of sparring that went by quickly, we were both tired and I ran him a bath, making sure it wasn't too hot or cold and adding the bubbles into the mix. Neji was taken back by the whole bubble bath thing and when he was clean, he stepped into the bath slowly. I was a little surprised at the look on his face, it was like the bubbles were going to eat him. I sighed and got clean myself while he soaked up to his eyeballs in the water looking at the white fluffy stuff surrounding him. Sighing I went towards the bath and he sort of jumped up out of the water.

"No, my bubbles!" he said gathering the foamy bubbles in his arms as if he was trying to protect them.

I lost it. I one hundred percent lost it, could not breathe, and was going to laugh myself to death. Oh my god, this was going into my mental vault for sure. The image of half foamy hair, cute pout, arms covered in the foam of him screaming my bubbles like a child was hilarious. What made it more funny was he looked down at the squished mass of mostly air as his arms passed through it.

"My bubbles," he said sitting down.

"Have you ever taken a bubble bath?" I asked after I whipped the tears away.

"No, always wanted to though," he said before narrowing his eyes, "This doesn't leave the bathroom."

"I swear on the next stupid embarrassing thing I will eventually do," I said before not even a moment later slipping on a puddle of water and smashing my face on the floor, "Damn it."

* * *

**Doton: Shinj****ū Zanshu no Jutsu****:**** Earth Release: Double Suicide Decapitation Technique****: **This technique conceals the user underground and drags the object of their attack down into the earth, robbing them of their freedom. In addition, they can start another attack.

* * *

**gunitatsuhiko:** Well this is the first installment of the two part Omake of the 'relationship building' that I have. Thank you for your praise. I hope you like the morbid humor and sorta 'icky' fun I had with your OC relationship and Hidan.

**Alpenwolf: **Ah don't feel bad, I just recently switched to reading the manga and laying off the anime...atm. Ha, well hell if I can make OCs good enough to confuse people into thinking they are actually part of the Narutoverse I am doing good *victory dance*. Yeah but she is a fast learner...and she will be keeping Dei in line...just wait. Aw come on...it would be boring if he fell for her so soon like we have seen in the story/anime so far. He will deny it until the very end. The anime itself is pretty good, though it is kinda like one of those 'guy animes' lots of skimpy outfits and action...though I loved the story in it. That anime is right on up there with Elfin Leid...god I love that anime... Hey with the screenshot, it is the thought that counts with me sir.

* * *

**River: **Alright, Part one of Two Omakes. The next section is about YukixShikamaru, NarutoxHinata, MarixDeidara, and SasukexSakura. Some of you may or may not want to see what I do with the relationship involving two 'Cannon' characters. I will tease ya a bit, there is one very fluffy one, one awkward one, one funny one, and one sorta fluffy. A cookie goes to the one who pins the correct **'**minisode' to the correct couple.**  
**


	39. Omake: The Dating Scene Part Two

**Omake: The Dating Scene, Episode Four**

**Don't Disappear**

**No POV**

**(A/N: Like last chapter, idk if I mentioned it. There isn't an actual time frame these mini chappies are working off of. They are just randomly placed in time, so don't hurt yourself by trying to place it.)**

It was raining in Konoha and Sakura had just gotten into the Uchiha Compound. When she finally made it inside, she was drenched. She had tried to calm herself down since the arrival of Sasuke, but to no avail. Ever since he had come back she was afraid of the day someone was going to say that he was a criminal again, even though Tsunade reassured her that wasn't going to happen while she was still Hokage. Nothing seemed to help, and with missions, the upcoming Hokage Summit, and missions, they barely had any time to spend together. There was a gap that had formed between them after the three years, that Sakura was afraid would never fill up.

She could still remember all the nights that she would lie awake trying to hope that he was okay, that Orochimaru hadn't killed him, or any other nin did. She always thought he was the best shinobi there ever was, but he never saw that. Nothing could satisfy his hatred against his brother, but what changed? Not only could Sasuke know his brother was alive, but she would see them talking, laughing, and acting like nothing happened. It confused and frustrated her. She knew the story but she never believed it.

Sighing, she entered the house where Itachi, Kisame, and Sasuke were staying. Since the whole compound was available, most everyone had a house to themselves or with their lovers, there were a few excpetions like this one. Kori and Yuki finally caved in and took a one of the houses themselves, not willing to seperate and definatly not ready to move in with their boyfriends. Seeing all the hope and love with everyone else, made Sakura's spirits low. Hell even Ino finally got bored, frustrated, or some other thing and asked Lee out for one date. That was a load of her mind and a bit of an extra annoyance.

When she opened the interior door, she heard noises in the living room and made her way there. When she stepped inside she found Kori, Itachi, Suigetsu, Aiko, and Sasuke playing some form of card game called Phase 10 that came from where Kori and Yuki came from. The scene was a content one, with normal friendly compitetion and the cracks at how one played the game in general. Sakura tried her best to smile even though it killed her that she couldn't really share those feelings. How would one exactly go on after not seeing someone for about three years? It wasn't like you could pick up where you left off. Sakura just sat down out of the way of the card game and listened, trying to find out some way to get Sasuke away from the others.

"Stop it," snapped Kori, "You are getting the cards wet!"

"Oh I am sorry," said Suigetsu mocking her, "These are _so_ priceless irreplaceable items."

"One of these days.." Kori threatened, "I will learn a Lightning Release attack just so I can turn you into jelly and bottle you for days."

"I would have to eat," said Suigetsu.

"I will fill it with a nutrient rich gel that you can absorb," said Kori laying down her hand, "I phased."

A few people cursed or sighed as she laid her hand continued playing the round until all but Suigetsu passed thier round. Kori blamed it on instant Karma. Giggling madly she suddenly stopped and pressed her hand to her head for a moment before getting up.

"Sorry guys I have to get some caffeine in this body before I either A: become grouchy, or B: pass out. So let's take a short break, we have been sitting here for a few good hours," she said leaving the room.

Sakura sighed in relief, she didn't know if Kori's ability helped or if she really did have a caffeine headache. Everyone got up to stretch and move around, or even make a quick stop at the nearest bathroom if they had too, and eventually everyone filtered out of the room except for Sasuke. Sakura wanted to say something but when she opened her mouth nothing came out, no matter how much she willed it. It seemed like her anxiety was built up too much to allow her to say the simplest of things. The room was unusually quiet and it was becoming tense. Neither of them knew what to say.

While Sakura was fretting about how to either start things over or just continue, Sasuke was having similar issues. He was afraid she would be angry with him. A few months ago she didn't matter, but that was before he found out about his life. Now he had to train more than ever to beat an enemy that actually scarred Kori and Yuki, which so far nothing scared them. What was he going to say to Sakura besides 'hey sorry for leaving you out in the cold after I knocked you out and fled the village?' That wouldn't work. He had seen Sakura angry and he really didn't want to fix the house, but he knew it wasn't anger that she was feeling right now. There was a certain emptiness that he could see in her. Especially since the days when she was in the Academy and could be read like an open book without the use of the Sharringan.

Eventually he sighed, thinking that now wasn't the best time to bring the mood down. It wouldn't help if he opted out finishing the silly card game because he was not up to it. He turned on his heel and went outside to clear his head. There were a lot of things he wanted to tell her but couldn't quite find the words to say it. He had put it off for far too long and he knew it, he also had a hunch she knew it.

"Don't get drenched like I did," said Sakura.

"You may want to change out of those clothes then," said Sasuke, "There are some...here..let me show you. I don't know how familar this place is to you."

"A-alright," she said.

What was she going to say? 'Ever since you left, Naruto and I came here often to try and understand? Maybe it was just me trying to, I spent days here looking for the answer?' Like that didn't sound stalker-ish or creepy. Aside from knowing the basic layout, she wasn't sure if he had kept the same room or not, considering she came here once in a while to clean his house when he was gone to try and help herself. Why did things have to be so simple, yet so hard at the same time. Everyone close to Sasuke had to grow up a bit more, even Kakashi took it hard when Sasuke left. Everyone placed the blame on themselves. Yet, no one was the least bit angry, they were just empty. Naruto eventually left, which made it that much worse on Sakura. She tried to immerse herself with training so she wouldn't be weak or useless anymore, but even that only helped so much.

Feeling lost and alone now more than ever, Sakura just simply followed Sasuke until he stopped at his old room. Opening the door he showed her a yukata she could wear so they could dry her clothes. She really didn't want a bath so she just requested some hot tea. Sasuke left and she changed into the dry yukuta that was slightly too big for her in the arms, so she rolled them up to fit. Coming out, Suigetsu had already ran into Sasuke and he was informed to get her a towel so she could dry her hair. Thanking him, she quickly dried as much as she could before wrapping her hair up in the towel to get the majority of water still clinging to the strands. She was about to head back to the living room when Sasuke rounded the corner and gave her the tea.

"Thanks," she said before blowing on it to cool it down so she wouldn't burn her tongue, "I appreciate it."

"I," said Sasuke before pausing, "I know why you came over here. I know you wanted to talk. I mean everyone can see it."

"Oh?" said Sakura, "I didn't realize. Maybe coming over here was a bad idea."

"No," sighed Sasuke, "The longer we wait the harder it is going to be."

"I-I suppose," said Sakura shifting in place because of her nerves.

"I apologize for what I did," he said.

"We never blamed you," said Sakura, "We blamed ourselves. Kakashi-sensei blamed himself for not being a better teacher, Naruto blamed himself for not being a better friend and rival, and I...I don't know...I just blamed myself for not being stronger."

"It was my decision," said Sasuke getting defensive and slightly angry, "Why don't you guys see that! I wanted it, I took it! There isn't anyone to blame but me!" Sakura flinched a little and Sasuke realized he sounded much angrier than he wanted to and he took a deep breath to calm down, "Sorry. I just don't know what to say."

"That you won't ever do it again," said Sakura, tears now forming in her eyes, "All this time I came here looking for an answer and I couldn't find it. Now that you are back I am afraid that this is all a dream and I will wake up one day back in Konoha and you are a criminal again, or worse. What if you disappear? I don't think we could handle it."

Sasuke felt a wave of relief wash over him, followed by a pang of guilt. He grabbed Sakura and hugged her close before whispering, "Does it still feel like I am going to disappear?"

"A little," she told him, "I can feel you against my skin but I..."

"This isn't a dream Sakura," he said, "I promise. I am real and this is too. When I was with Orochimaru I could have easily killed him when I wanted to, but I didn't. I was too busy trying to focus my attention forgetting everything from Konoha because even then it hurt. So I killed everything in my memories to make it go away, that way when I saw Itachi I could kill him the way I thought he killed our clan. However I was shown that there was another way and the truth behind it all. I am thankful for Kori's help because I could come back. I meant what I said back then, three years ago. Even now sometimes I think of you and smile because you were always the one cheering me on, backing me up, and I was too blind by hate to see that you loved me unconditionally.

How could I come back to that? Knowing that you would be here waiting with that smile on your face telling me that you are happy that I am back. I don't know what pain I have caused you but I promise to make it up to you. I have forgotten what it is like to smile, laugh, and love but I am learning. Thank you again Sakura. Maybe since we are both here, I could convince you to stay and we could talk? I haven't heard much about what happened with everyone while I was gone.."

"I would like that," Sakura smiled, forgetting she still had tea in her hand and when she went to hug him back she dropped it and it crashed on the floor.

Both of them blushed and went to clean up the mess, but as they were cleaning it up Sasuke wasn't paying much attention and jabbed a shard into his hand. Sighing Sakura began to treat it.

"This is going to hurt," she said moving his hand so she could get it out in one tug.

"Just don't take the hand off too," Sasuke teased.

"Alright," she said before yanking it out.

Sasuke hissed a little in pain but it passed quickly and Sakura used her healing skills to cause it to heal quicker and clean out anything that would cause infection. Then she wrapped it up so that he could grab things while it properly healed. After she finished bandaging it, she heard something at the door.

"Move over."

"Hell no, get your own!"

"Dude they are _so_ fucking in there."

"Do not talk about Sasuke that manner."

"HOLY SHIT ITACHI! When did you get here?

"Shh, they will hear us, but anyway...You are talking to soul guardian of emo-butt in there, so yeah. Hey don't glare at me. He is...or was. Hell you go into that mind and see if your precious bro doesn't wierd you out. Belive me...peoples minds are funny stuff...oh shit.."

Sakura jerked the door open and Kori, Suigetsu, and Hidan fell into Sasuke's room. Itach and Kisame were there as well but were smart enough not to lean on the door. Sakura looked really pissed at Kori, Hidan, and Suigetsu, but when she saw Itachi she swallowed hard. Everyone got up and dusted themselves off before Kori tried to escaped with Hidan and Suigetsu in tow, but was stopped by a rightly 'death to you' looking Itachi.

Itachi cleared his throat, "You three. Will not eavesdropp on my brother's conversations...ever."

"Yes," said Kori quickly, the other two agreed as well.

"Sasuke," said Itachi, "I know that you are getting older, but a girl in your room while the door is shut will not be allowed. I don't care if you two are playing tag naked, this door WILL be open."

"What?" asked Sasuke.

"You heard me," said Itach walking away dragging three shinobi with him.

Kisame stood there while grinning ear to ear. When Itachi was out of earshot he leaned down a bit so he could talk low, "Find me a date, or bribe me well enough, Itachi won't come within a mile of your room."

"Oh god," Sasuke said placing his face in his hands, "Are families _always_ like this?"

Sakura laughed, "Not really but if my parents caught you in my room...my dad would still be on the man hunt for you."

Sasuke scoffed, "Nothing I couldn't handle."

"I don't know," said Sakura, "Dads are very protective of their girls. He still belives I am six wanting to be held in his arms and swung around. It is scary."

A scream broke their conversation momentarily before they saw Kori dart out from around the corner wearing the gayest, girliest, frilliest dress, "Fuck you Itachi!"

They both looked at the scene for a second and actually walked to the door to see Itachi walking slowly laughing loudly and evilly as he went after Kori, "You can run..."

"I don't want to know," said Sasuke sighing, "So where were we?"

The rest of the night was filled with conversations that were long missed and surprisingly everything went well. The burdens of both of them were lifted just a little as they talked. Slowly but surely they were both laughing at ridiculous tales that they were sharing. Things ranged from Naruto trying to get Jiraiya to train him to Kori 'accidently' spilling her pigments in Suigetsu when he was in his jelly form after they were attacked once.

**Omake:The Dating Scene, Episode Five**

**Just Say Yes**

**No POV**

Naruto had come back earlier than expected and Hinata was trying to build up confidence to talk to him. It wasn't easy, she was still a bit shy though she did confess to him. It was a spur of the moment and she was positive that the adrenaline of the battle in Konoha was what boosted her confidence. Neji kept telling her that she was more confident and shouldn't worry about anything. However something was different about the shinobi. She couldn't place her finger on it but she felt so anxious around him.

Naruto wasn't doing much better. He had just took on and resealed the Kyubi, yet he couldn't even ask Hinata to have lunch with him. It didn't help that Hiashi and Neji just so happened to run into him and threaten his life.

"So help yourself if you make my precious daughter cry, or even feel the least bit sad, I will _personally_ use Gentle Fist to cut off your chakra points. I will make sure to use enough force that your ancestors will feel it and all of your children's children will never be able to use ninjutsu as long as they live. That is, if I let you keep anything below the belt. I swear if you attempt to get any thoughts about my daughter, I will personally enjoy getting some of Aiko's torturing devices, razor blades? As I heard them being called, and skin you alive slowly and then pour chilli powder and lemon juice on your wounds.

I know everything boy, and don't even think you can hide anywhere in Konoha or the Land of Fire for that matter. My Byakugan can see for _miles. _Not even Jiraiya and the Hokage could protect you," warned Hiashi, "I will beat you until you are unrecognizable and even the most advanced and best reconstructive surgery won't even touch the damage. Your bones will be liquid by the time I am finished. Understand?"

"Y-Yes...sir," said Naruto taken back.

"Good," smiled Hiashi, "Now then, Neji did you have something to add?"

"Now because Hinata is my family _and_ my girlfriend's best friend. The same threat I applied to you during the invasion of Pein applies, only this time I will send you to hell, _after _Lord Hiashi finishes with you. So _if _they find you, you will hurt for a _long time,_" said Neji, "Now that it is settled, I belive I must meet with Shikamaru to discuss some battle strategy."

"I understand," said Naruto swallowing hard.

It had only been a few hours since they said that, and Naruto had just ran into Jiraiya. He also gave his own advice. Which ended up being perverted and totally wrong. Naruto was a bit more afraid of Hiashi and Neji than he was dumb enough to listen to Pervy Sage's advice. Sighing he went to think. Not that it helped much. He was still confused about what he wanted. He really liked Hinata because she was so sweet but did he like her enough to consider dating her. Not that he would mind, she was pretty cute, he just wanted to make sure he was going to talk to her for the right reasons, whether it be yes or no to her. He just didn't like that everyone assumed that he was going to make a pass at her like his sensei would have.

Walking aimlessly among the village he ran into Kakashi. Naruto thought maybe his old sensei could help, but then again he was an avid fan of Pervy Sage's books and he may not have the best advice. It wasn't like he had much a choice, both his parents were gone, Tsunade might rearrange his organs, Sakura was busy with Sasuke, he didn't even want to know what the other's in the Uchiha Compound would say, Yuki and Shikamaru were out doing something, and he admited he needed help. It was pretty obvious when Sakura was still loopy over Sasuke even after all these years. Catching up to Kakashi he stopped the jonin.

"Kakashi-sensei," he said, "I need some help."

"Naruto?" said Kakashi looking up from his book,"What kind of help?"

"Well, since the Pein Incident, Hinata said that she loved me and I like her but.." said Naruto trying to give Kakashi the hint without actually saying it.

"Ah," said Kakashi, "Well I don't know. I am just glad you _finally_ realized that she loved you."

"You knew?" asked Naruto.

"Naruto," Kakashi sighed, "Everyone noticed that spent any amount of time around her, everyone but you. Now that you know you are trying to figure out how much you like her. I can't tell you that you do or do not, that is for _you _to decide. All I can suggest is that you talk to her, but by you showing up here, you don't know if you should."

"But," started Naruto before Kakashi disappeared, "Damn."

So Naruto decided that he would try, there wasn't much he couldn't do. Gathering himself he made it over to the scariest place imaginable...the Hyuga Compound. Unfortunately for him, as soon as he saw the gate he was captured by two other fellow shinobi, Kiba and Shino.

"What the hell?" yelled Naruto.

"I am not ever going through that trial shit again, Kori put my ass through it the first time," said Kiba.

"It would be in our best interest if you do not go in there Naruto, they are waiting for you," said Shino.

"Who?" asked Naruto.

"The council," both said.

"Why are they a threat?" asked Naruto.

"They bombard you with questions and they put Kori through hell. We only heard about what happened from Hinata and Neji when they had time to spare. Trust us, do not go in there," said Kiba.

"We will retrieve Hinata for you," said Shino, "Yuki already thought of a plan. Her and Shikamaru thought you may try to see Hinata after your return. Wait near the Ichiraku Ramen stand."

Naruto was dropped off at Ichiraku's and left there. A few minutes later, Hinata, who was very confused was being escorted by her team mates to where Naruto was.

"Kiba-kun, Shino, what is this?" asked Hinata.

"You will see," said Kiba while Akimaru barked happily.

Hinata then spotted Naruto standing there looking at her. She brushed her hair down quickly, "Hi Naruto-kun."

"Hey Hinata," said Naruto trying to figure out what to say, "So nice weather."

Akimaru whined, Shino shook his head, and Kiba preformed one of Kori's famous face palms. Hinata just smiled and patiently stood there for another few words, but when none came she frowned a little on the inside.

"Yes, but it will be cold soon," she said, "We leave in a few days to go to the Summit, well Tsunade does along with her escort."

"So who is it?" asked Naruto.

"Well while you two are busy having a riveting time, we need to go, right Akimaru," said Kiba, interrupting.

"Yes, I too have business to attend," said Shino.

Both shinobi flickered out of the way to leave the two akward people alone. Hinata was trying to be patient but she had waited over three years to talk to Naruto again. Now they were alone with no one to interrupt them and hopefully she would finally be able to ask Naruto if he liked her.

"Naruto?" asked Hinata before he courage left her again.

"Yes?" he asked.

"She is taking Kakashi as her escort to the sumit, if you wanted to know," she told him, "The rest of us are forming groups and are either commanders or support."

"Oh," Naruto said, slightly shifting because he was running out of things to talk to her _other _than the conversation they _should _be having, "I see."

"Is there anything you would like to say?" asked Hinata, "I heard about what father and Neji did from Hanabi. I apologize if they scared you."

"I swear, does everyone think that I am dating you?" he snapped before he realized it came out wrong, "I didn't mean that."

"Then what did you mean?" asked Hinata.

"Look I have been going to everyone, or they have came to me telling me advice to talk to you. Pervy Sage suggested that I do things that would have me undergoing your father's torture if he found out, Kakashi didn't help, I am not even going to Sakura or Sasuke, I would rather leave them out of it, and the rest of everyone automatically assumes I am desperately in love with you or something. I-," he rambled before Hinata interrupted him.

"I understand," she said, "I wasn't fair when I said I loved you. I really do but it wasn't right for me to tell you that when Pein was still an enemy and there were a lot of things going on. I understand if you are upset and I should have waited but...I...Honest, I loved you the day I met you. You are so kind and gentle, and every time I am around you I am at peace. No matter if you say yes or no, I will still want to be friends with you Naruto-kun."

"Stop that," said Naruto, "Don't be so selfless. It is too cute."

Hinata blushed several shades of red, "R-really?"

"Up until a few days ago, everyone hated me, and now I find out about you. Did you honestly loved me from the time we were in the Academy?" he asked.

"Yes," she said looking away, "I did. I didn't understand why I had to stay away from you. When you saved me...I knew that you were the one person I could depend on you and you helped me become strong. Simple admiration turned into love Naruto."

"I see," Naruto was beginning to feel overwhelmed right now, "I think...I think that...we..should..Oh look rammen!"

"Naruto," Hinata sighed, "You really are nervous aren't you.."

"Yeah," he said rubbing the back of his head, "I can't say I feel the same way about you, like you do about me, but I would like to see how much I like you before I say anything else. I don't know HInata, this is a really BIG deal for me. I was wondering...if it isn't too much trouble, that I take things slow before I decide if I like you enough to be with you and maybe, one day, love you in return?"

Naruto and Hinata looked at each other but before they could speak more, they swore they heard some scuffling followed by a, "Just fucking ask her out! Or kiss her!"

"Eh?" asked Naruto, "Did you hear that?"

"I don't know, I think I did but I am going to say it was my imagination," she sighed, "Honestly I think everyone is betting on if I ask you out or if you ask me out. Anyway, I think I would like that Naruto. How about some tea right now, I just ate and rammen wouldn't be a good thing."

"Yeah, well," said Naruto, "Tea would be nice."

From then on Hinata and Naruto began to get to know one another, and Naruto discovered he liked Hinata as more than a friend. She was sweet, calm, caring, and cute when flustered. Eventually he did manage to ask her out without someone trying to force him into it or threatening him.

**Omake: The Dating Scene, Episode Six**

**True Art, Nothing Lasts Forever**

**No POV**

After Hidan left to give Aiko her gift, the day went by slowly. Mari had the question still buzzing in her head about Deidara. Did he really like her? She didn't want to pry but her curiosity was beginning to eat away at her. Days passed and she began to get anxious. Finally the day came to where she HAD to know.

She found Deidara working on something, perhaps one of his new explosives, and it didn't seem to be going well. Walking up to him, she could hear the stream of curses, most of which were picked up by none other than Hidan. She cleared her throat behind him, and the blond whipped around and stared at her.

"Yes?" he asked a bit aggravated.

"Um, what are you working on?" she asked, trying to keep the conversation simple.

"Fireworks," he scoffed, "Damn things won't work properly. I am trying to go by the recipie that was given to me and there has to be something missing. There is no explosion or anything! It just fizzles out. Tsunade wants me to make a few hundred of them for signals."

"Fireworks?" she tilted her head, "What are they?"

"Are you serious?" he asked, "If I didn't know you grew up in a huge rock, I would ask if you lived under one un. Have you never seen fireworks?"

"How could I have seen them if I don't know what they are Deidara? I mean seriously I was held prisioner in my own home where their form of fun was writing scripts of old books and rearranging the library. Amoung other things..." she said rambling, "I really don't know what they did because no one would tell me but the monks had such a large stick shoved up their ass, that they never let me do anything fun!"

"Pity," he said, "Fuck this, alright...I know how they work and I will just use my clay. You have never experianced true art until you have seen my explosives displayed like that. Normally I would kill people with them, but since you haven't seen fireworks, I suppose it wouldn't hurt to attempt to get these backwater, useless, firecrackers to try and work."

"Can I help you?" she asked.

"Sure," he said, "Just be careful, they are a bit volitile."

"I will be fine, I have three shells," she said smiling, "We are preparing for war after all, aren't we?"

Deidara looked at her, "Well we don't know your battle skills. You haven't been tested on them so there is a high chance that you will not be attending the war."

"Oh," she said frowning, "That isn't good. I mean you have seen them."

"I do not count for your skill review," he sighed, "That is the Hokage and Damiyo's business, not mine. The only thing I can do is make recommendations. So far you are not even a genin, since you have no offical nin training. Tsunade may make an exception for you, like she did with us former Akatsuki."

"Ah," she smiled again, "So what was life in the Akatsuki like?"

"Beautiful," he said smiling, "I could do whatever I wanted and got away with everything. There wasn't anything I couldn't do...mostly. There were some things like full out slaughter, but that was more Hidan, Kazuku, Zetzu, and Kisame's thing. Sasori never really cared full killing everyone, and Itachi avoided fights if he could, I was in the middle. I wanted to show everyone what true art was but I was no fool."

"That sounds scary Dei," she shuddered, "You used to be a bad person didn't you?"

"All a matter of perception," he said in thought, "Some things I did to survive, others I was paid to do, and then there are the orders I carried out, and the few things I did on my own. Good, bad, great, ugly, terrible, they are all words that someone else said about what I did. I used to hunt jinchuriki, but they were seen as monsters and most of them lived lives hated and suffered. I could be seen as a murderer, but I could also be seen as the person who released them from their pain. I got the job done, that was what I was concerned about."

"I see," she said, "If someone ordered you to kill me?"

"Then you better disappear, but I doubt that would happen. Your monks belive you dead and there isn't anyone I know that would order me to kill you," he said.

"Okay," she said a bit depressed, she was not expecting that answer.

They went out and found an area that they could light the fireworks and test them out. Some ended up exploding too early, some too late, some not at all, and there were various other problems that were wrong. Deidara was frustrated and ended up just randomly throwing his explosive clay up in the air and exploding them to relive his frustration, all the while Mari was amazed. When the 'display' was over she skipped over to Deidara and hugged him tightly.

"That was so cool!" she said in excitement.

"That was the most pathetic excuse for explosives I have ever seen!" he said, slightly scaring her.

"But I thought it was just fine," she said backing off.

"Shows you how much you know," he snapped. He didn't mean for it to come out so harsh but it did, and Mari looked at him like he had just slapped her before she turned on her heel. He tried to stop her, "Wait."

She kept going and eventually ran away from Deidara. He felt a bit guilty for hurting her feelings, but he was more frustrated, blaming her weak emotional state because of her sheltered life and even went to mentally call her a 'crybaby'. He eventually returned to his work before he immersed himself into it. By the time he got back to the Uchiha Compound it was late, the sun had set a few hours ago, and he was tired. While moving through the main house, to where he chose his room for the time being, he could hear laughter.

Sneaking up to the noise, he could hear the distinct voice of Mari with...Itachi? No he had to be hearing things. There would be no way in the afterlife or hell that Itachi would laugh like that.

"Are you serious?" she asked.

"Yeah, poor Sasuke missed every target and had bruises from head to toe from practicing. He came back all battered up and mom spent over an hour to make sure that he didn't break anything. He even tried so hard not to cry but as soon as he saw me, he just did and I had to tell him that practice makes perfect and he would get the hang of it. Though I tried to tell him the life of a shinobi was hard, but he always wanted to be just like his nii-san. Drove me nuts."

While listenting there was a light tap on his shoulder. Deidara turned around to find Kisame standing there. Kisame looked at him, heard the conversation, and then smiled while motioning Deidara to follow him. When they were down the hall he turned and looked at Deidara.

"Look, to save you from pain don't eavesdrop on Itachi. He really doesn't like that, it sends his senses on high alert, and as for Mari. Chicks like that don't last long in the single department. Someone will eventually get interested, and we all can see that you like her. You never mind that she hangs around you constantly and whatnot," said Kisame.

"If she finds someone then good for her!" he said, "I am quite tired of her emotional fragility, her silly games, her never ending talking ability, and her inability to have common sense."

"She has plenty of common sense, for a girl who grew up in a cage that is. She isn't used to people and you are not helping that. She came back all worried that she pissed your small ass off, so she really does like you for some off the wall reason. I for one would have just beheaded you and be done with it. However she thinks that you are brilliant or some other thing," he said walking off, "Just remember, girls like that...men try and steal as quickly as possible, sometimes by any means necessary. I have seen it happen and I doubt you want to live through that."

Deidara just shrugged his shoulders and went to bed early that night. He did not want to think about Kisame giving him advice or a talk. That was just scary. He was used to Kisame growling or being gruff or trying to kill you. He was sure Konoha had something in the air that made everyone crazy, but he was not going to fall for it. The chances of Mari actually talking to other people were slim, she still didn't trust many others, and the only reason she would be talking to Itachi is because they lived in his home.

Days passed and he relized that Mari wasn't around as much as she was anymore. She always seemed to be doing something else but hang around him. At first he was happy that she wasn't always around, but then he began to miss her. He was going out of his mind trying to wrap his mind around that! Missing the annoying girl? Please, he didn't need her to do any of the work he was now behind on. He occasionally bumped into her now and again but she only stopped to talk to him before going off to see someone or hang out with Itachi. That pissed him off. How could he be replaced with his nemisis the fucking Uchiha? Well, an Uchiha.

One night he found himself not being able to sleep and he walked the halls to get something to drink. He heard something in one of the rooms he passed. It was Itachi and Mari.

"No you aren't doing it right!" she giggled, "Look like this, take your hand like that...stick it...here. and then yeah...that is it. There you go, much better!"

"This is getting messy," said Itach flatly.

"Oh don't worry I will clean it up," she said.

Deidara just quickly ran away from that scene before his mind would process the information as something dirty. After getting him some water, he went back to bed, and on his way he passed by the same accursed room.

"Oh my god Itachi!" she cried, "That's wonderful."

Deidara just ran to his room chanting slowly to himself, "It isn't what you think. It isn't what you think. Dirty thoughts go away."

The next morning he felt like shit, he hated the sunlight this morning. All he wanted to do was sleep the day away. Getting up he decided to talk to Mari to get things straight. He walked to her room and saw that she was not there. He wandered around the house until he found her sleeping in a side room. Itachi was sitting on the other side of the room looking out towards the sunrise. When he spotted Deidara he just informed him that Dei should keep quiet.

"Sorry, we were up late last night," said Itach.

"I heard," grumbled Deidara.

"I apologize," said Itachi.

"Don't," said Deidara, "I just wanted to wish her luck on whatever she is doing, un."

"I see," said Itachi raising an eyebrow, "I will tell her when she wakes up."

"So..." said Deidara before he stopped himself, "Later."

Deidara just ate a light breakfast, now being unable to eat because of how he found both Itachi and Mari. He wanted to know exactly was going on but it really wasn't any of his buisness. Kisame walked in while Deidara was finishing his toast and looked at him before laughing.

"You look like hell," said Kisame.

"Shut up before I make you eat those words," growled Deidara.

"Uh-oh," said Kisame, "Who got her?"

"Itachi," said Deidara flatly before pushing past Kisame.

All he could hear was a roaring laughter in the kitchen when he left. He was getting more upset by the hour and he just told himself that it was for the best. He didn't like her like that, she was annoying at best and she could do anything that she wanted, hell she could do anyone she wanted for that matter. Her personal life was insignifigant to him. He started alone and he was damn proud to end it that way. A few hours passed before he saw Mari again. She looked like she didn't get any sleep. She sat down beside him, of all places, to have some tea.

"Hello," she yawned.

"Hi," he said, trying to be as passive as possible.

"I need to talk to you," she said, "I would like to apologize for avoiding you for the past few days. I thought you were pissed at me, and Itachi ran into me and we started talking..."

"I understand!" he said quickly.

"You do?" she looked at him before hugging him, "Oh thank you! Oh I made you something last night. Itachi wanted to take up pottery for some strange reason and kept me up all night because he sucks at it."

"You were making pottery?" he asked, not expecting that answer.

"Yeah, _why_?" she asked slowly.

"I thought you were..." said Deidara before chosing a less inappropriate word for the conversation, "Dating."

"Me and Itachi?" she laughed, "Hell no. I like him, great conversations and perceptive but he is too boring. I want someone with a bit more excitement and flare."

He couldn't help himself, it was like his body acted on its own. Before he knew it, he was kissing her! Not quite chaste either. She quickly pulled away before blushing three shades of red, and scooting away from him. Cursing himself for his moment of weakness and stupidity, he looked at her.

"I didn't mean," he started.

"You really do like me," she breathed.

"My body reacted on its own I swear!" he kept saying.

"I like you too, Dei. You are the most beautiful, spontaneous, exciting, true person I know," she said.

"I-" he said before it clicked what she said, "You do? Wait what just happened?"

"I belive I accepted your feelings for me in affection," she smiled.

"Affection?" he scoffed, "I don't keep things, if you haven't noticed most things I touch explode, un."

"And that is why I love you," she giggled, "You are not afraid of telling things you don't or you do like them. Honestly that is the kind of person I like."

"Wait is that love the 'I like you', love you, or the 'I love you', love you?" he asked.

"I don't know, I wanna find out though," she said scooting closer to him now.

"Okay," he said, "Just don't get all mushy on me."

**Omake: The Dating Scene, Episode Seven**

**Lay With Me**

**Yuki's POV**

Between the disappearance of my sister and the whole battle plans that we were coming up with, well forced to come up with, I was exausted mentally. Shikamaru wasn't fairing any better. So it was suggested by Tsunade that both of us take some time off before we began to snap. I was mentally exausted and practically passed out for the first day. The next day was really akward, I realized I had been avoiding, more or less, all my friends. So after three days of playing 'catch up', I wanted to lock myself in my own house. The next morning, I refused almost all visitors.

Shikamaru ended up coming over though and I just couldn't lock him out, so I asked him to come in. Unfortunatly for me, he just bridal style carried me to my room, quickly got me dressed, and carried me out of the house. Confused I stood there for a moment still trying to process the fact I was manhandled _into_ clothes. Before I knew it, I was lost in thought, and it took him actually clearing his throat to make me realize we stopped, and he had sat me down.

I looked around and saw that he had made a picnic much like the one Kori made for Asuma and Kurenai not too long ago. I had to bite my lip to keep from laughing at the unbeliveable cheesyness of it all, but it was very sweet. As we sat and ate, we talked about other things, rather than more work. After eating, he just sat down and watched the clouds, and I was cuddled up next to him.

"Beautiful," he said kissing my cheek, "Clouds aren't too bad either."

"Dork," I said rolling my eyes.

"So? Isn't that what caused you to fall for me in the first place?" he asked.

"And here I thought you were going to say, 'Awesome skills, sharp wit and intellect, and devilishly stunning grin,' " I laughed.

"Well if you say so," he said, I could hear the smile in his voice.

"So, what is with all this?" I asked.

"I figured we could use a break and lounge all day. I have had enough of friends to last me for a while," he said.

"Jesus, you don't have that many friends," I teased.

"YOUR friends," he corrected himself.

"Ah, that would explain why it looks like you got into a fight with a kunai and lost, who tried to scalp you?" I asked, brushing my hand through his shortened hair.

"Into tried to give me a hair cut," he said flatly.

"Damn," I giggled, "What happened after that?"

"Nothing, I got the hell out of there," he said pailing, "Never give her siccors."

I was laughing but, like always, it didn't last long. I still had the dred of losing my sister _again _and the war was just around the corner. He caught me moping, and then tickled me, which caused us to collide with one another. Rubbing our skulls, I looked at him and smiled.

"I don't know whether to smack you or kiss you," I said.

"Definatly the kiss," he said scooping me up so I was sitting in his lap.

"So," I huffed, trying to keep the conversation going.

"Yeah," he sighed, "Ran out of things to say."

"Pretty much," I said, "Really shocker there."

"You don't talk _that_ much," he told me, "I was wondering."

"Yes?" I asked turning so I could look at him.

"When this is all over...What happens then?" he asked.

"Like what?" I said confused.

"This whole time you and your sis have been the only things saving our skins when it really comes down to it. Though I know that it won't last forever, nothing ever does," he said.

"Who says it has to," I smiled.

"I suppose," he said thinking, "Oh I got something for you."

"Really?" I asked, lighting up like a kid in a candy store.

He rummaged through one of his many pockets and retrived a necklace out. On the bright silver chain was the Nara crest. It was simple, but very pretty. As he looped it around my neck he chuckled, "My mom threatened my life if I lost this, so I am going to give it to the most precious thing I know."

"I don't know if I should laugh or cry," I said, "It...this is...thanks."

"Yeah, I figured if you are going to stick around...we will be together for a while. Maybe in a few years, we could get married and stuff" he said shrugging his shoulders.

"And stuff?" I said before the idea of teasing him got the better of me, "You know where I am from this signifies that I am your wife. Usually it is a band made of gold but silver necklaces are just as good."

"That would scare me if I knew you couldn't lie to save your life," he said, "But I don't mind. If I couldn't handle your brand of crazy, I wouldn't have said I liked you and wanted to go out with you. Besides, with your sister being the Trouble Finding Wonder, I find myself worring about your sake more and more. I know you can handle yourself, but I really don't want to miss a bit of your life that is worth something."

"Honey," I said giggling, "You make my life worth something."

"Really?" he asked, "Here I thought you tormented me for amusement."

"Not that is Kori's job," I smiled.

"How does Neji handle that crazy?" he asked.

"I have _no_ idea," I said before leaning back into him, "He has the patience of a saint that is for sure."

The rest of the time was spent with us laying down and enjoying the sun and ocassional cloud that brushed past us. When the day was over, we watched the sunset...well made out with the sunset, and stargazed until it was too cold. Then a hot bath led to a pillow fight that led to more making out..and well...needless to say he was next to me in the morning..looking really hot...and that led to round two.

* * *

1. It doesn't specify when Hinata is 'saved' by Naruto in the anime. Currently she is 16, but she graduated at the academy at the age of 12, so I am going out on a limb to say it took her this long to say something, and it would seem so 'quick' I guess.

**Musical Insparation:**

**SakuraxSasuke: Fall for you- Secondhand Serenade**

**HinataxNaruto-Never Surrender-Skillet**

**Nao (Mari)x Deidara- Kiss the Girl -Disney's The Little Mermaid **

**YukixShikamaru-Don't Wanna Miss A Thing- Aerosmith**

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**ThorLuvR: **well I hope you like it, I kinda rushed it a bit, getting writing done here and there. It was a busy few, weeks...Yes I made ALL of it up, out of thin air. Cool right?

**gunitatsuhiko: ** I know right? Don't worry about it...you can say 'me' when referring to your OC. Doesn't matter to me. Thanks a bunch. Heh, you like the happy meal crack...lol. So how many times have you used it so far?

**Alpenwolf: **Well the exibit was awesome but really short because they didn't really have a lot of space. My group kinda took it slow. Our other classmates were in and out before we got there..meh, thier loss. Don't worry freaky is not an insult to me either...I like being freaky...and a freak and it scares people when they shout FREAK and I yell THANK YOU... Elfen Leid...really good anime, you should watch it. It has a strange name because it doesn't have anything to do with Elves or Songs...Maybe one day you will see my victory dance.

**Sukaretto Miyuki**: You are the only one who guessed, but hell have a cookie. *gives cookie* Yeah the kids Mari left are okay, we will see them again in the future..yes...the _real _ question on our minds was answered to how I imagine it would go..if Dei was straight but we don't know, we never saw any realationship with him and he is a fictional character that people love to write about.. Look hun, if you are refering to your OC, just use first person...save your head from being confused...trust me. Thank you, I am glad you like it...The OCs, yes and no..they are more based off of what I see YOU guys replying with and how I see your personalities, but as the creator of the OCs in general..yeah some of my ticks and stuff were put in them if I was missing anything in making them.

* * *

**River:** Oh thank god...effing finally! I apologize for the time it took, life has been sucking my creativity dry and honestly I couldn't remember half of what I had planned for this chapter so I winged it. Any-hoe, I hope you like this chapter...and I hope my dad can take a ten minute shower becuase it is 11:36 and I have school in the morning...Yikes...and a test at that...


	40. Chapter 40: Infiltration

**A/N: ** Alright I should have said this earlier, but better late than never. Since there are many OCs in this story, if you want to use them you can..but they are based off my readers and they are my 'love children'. Anyway, if it is **your** OC, I have no problem with you using yours in another story, but if it 'belongs' to someone else, you need their permission. Just in case you forgot:

**Alpenwolf- Starke**

**ThorLuvR- Mari (Nao Kaosut****īra****)**

**Sukaretto Miyuki- Miyuki Sukaretto**

**gunitatsuhiko- Aiko**

**Riverseithr- Yuki and Kori**

Okay now that that is over, onto the chapter.

* * *

**Kori's POV**

I woke up with Nii-san there, sitting with his back turned toward me. As I stretched out I tried to figure out all the right questions that I should ask. There were many question sure, but I had to ask the _right _ones. Filtering through my mind, what little was left of it, I cleared my throat.

"You are awake," he said turning.

"Yeah," I said yawning, "Just woke up. So Nii-san, how long have I been living in Konoha?"

"About three years," he said.

"Okay, so do you know what I did...like I can tell I have chakra but what was I?" I asked.

"Stories reached me that you were a capable med-nin along with an interesting ability with your Water Element, no doubt inherited by your mother," he said.

"What was she like?" I unconsciously mouthed before I caught myself and slapped my hand over my face, I stood there for a second before speaking,"No you don't have to answer that."

"That question _should _ be asked. If you didn't I would have worried. She was a wonderful woman, you look a lot like her. Same hair and face, your sister had your mother's eyes, though since her former clan was killed..we don't know much about her. She came from the Kohaku(1) clan before it was slain, escaping with her life, she came to us. There she met your father and they had Yuki. Fortunately for you, she left Konoha before the Clan Massacre and gave birth to you," he told me, "Shame that she didn't survive. She was weak when she went into labor, strong until the end. Is there anything else you would like to know?"

"Yeah, so my ability comes from...her? Wouldn't I get the Uchiha Sharringan?" I asked.

"Not necessarily, the Sharringan is an achievement even in our own clan. You may or may not ever develop it, if it hasn't already...I am not sure it will. As for you ability, yes..you got the ability to paint from her. Your sister must take after another person perhaps a grandmother or grandfather from your mother's side for her songs," he said.

"I can paint? Like what?" I asked.

"I haven't seen it personally since you have been training with it, but you can make living paintings, and paint what people see. As well as what you see. You will need some pigments, and unfortunately I do not have any on me as of now, but I am sure that some berries would do. I do not want you to use your own blood," he said, "We should work on remembering all your skills. Your tattoos that you have on your body serve another purpose. None of them are permanent, you channel your chakra into them and they do what you preset them for. Kabuto would like to begin to retrain you in chakra control and basic med nin skills. If we progress slowly, we can hopefully cause a memory surge and you can fill in all the blank areas that your mind is filled with. Nothing can be lost forever, not without permanent brain damage, and I was assured that none was inflicted on you."

"How about I learn to control blocking people's thoughts for right now," I said, "I have been trying to pay attention, and if your thoughts were not gathered, I would be having a headache and be doing other stuff than listening to you in stereo."

"Yes, that would be beneficial," he said, "Meditation for now to build up your focus. Until you can maintain not hearing me, we should continue this exercise."

"Good idea, Nii-san," I smiled at him.

**Konoha**

**Yuki's POV**

We had all gathered in Tsunade's office, which made me glad that it was so large, or it would have been a cramped fit. It was already time for her to leave for the Summit and she was just going over all the preparations and was setting up a few teams for stationing with the Suna forces and get them up to speed with all our battle plans, and modify them if necessary, there were a couple teams just for swift order carries, and the last team would stay in Konoha to be the 'Main Hub' for the whole thing until we moved out.

"Just be ready for anything, we do not know if we shall have the support of all Kage's because of the recent events that have happened," said Tsunade, "Now you have your orders. I will hopefully be able to send word soon."

"Hai!" we all said in unison before we filtered out of the office.

This was no doubt going to be the most interesting week of our lives.

**Mountain Graveyard**

**NO POV**

After the mediation session with Kori along with a few questions, Madara exited his dimensional portal into the real world. Kabuto was speaking with Zetsu about something when Madara tapped him on the shoulder.

"Yess?" said Kabuto.

"What drug did you give her to cause the memory loss? Is it permentant?" asked Madara.

"Funny thing about alge, it contains Domoic acid, a neurotoxin that causes memory loss, brain damage, and death. I manufactured a drug synthesized from Domoic acid that only targets memory, but as for it being permanent, I can not say," he replied.

"How long will it take?" asked Madara, "For her memory to return if it isn't permanent?"

"Days, weeks, months, years, never. One can never tell with anyone. Everyone's chemical make-up is different but if she is introduced to familiar things, the chances increase for her to regain her memory. Her sister, former team mates, a lover, scents sometimes, and various other things can cause a 'jog' in her memory and it may return. Even you and I can cause her to regain her memories if the receptors were not damaged, the drug was still being tested. Usually short term memory loss is the only target, but I had to broaden it," rambled the snake man.

"Then you will monitor her while she is undergoing 'training' to recover all her ninjutsu that we will need to rehabilitate her former allies. If she shows any sign of progression, not in our favor, hit her again," said Madara.

"If you say so," said Kabuto, "When shall I begin to monitor her?"

"Tomorrow, right now she is resting," said Madara, "We must keep appearances. So do not mention anything that I haven't intructed you to do so. I do not want her turning on us. She is quite strong. Though her mind doesn't remember, her body does and contains a vast amount of chakra at our disposal. When she is no longer any value to us..."

"I understand," said Kabuto grinning.

**Hokage Summit**

**A few days later.**

**No POV**

Tsunade arrived along with all the other Kages: A, Gaara, Mei, and Onoki, along with their two body guards. Mifune, immediately began with the proceedings.

"Tsunade, Fifth Hokage of Konoha, why did you summon this meeting?" asked Mifune.

"If you haven't noticed, the jinchuriki of our lands have been captured by the Akatsuki. As far as we know there are only three surviving," she started, "With investigation, it was found that former Uchiha Clan, Madara is leading this mission. The Akatsuki is no longer a threat to us and my village has intel that he will try and take over the world using the jinchuriki to take out the tailed beasts within and rejoin them to form the Ten Tails."

"What would happen after?" interrupted A.

"We are not sure," said Tsunade, "Investigation has lead us to believe that it would be used as a weapon of 'peace' but because of the sheer destruction. We can not afford to let this happen. The Kazekage and I already have made plans to gather our forces and meet him, but it is assumed he has thousands of creatures working for him. I ask you to join us."

"Why should we belive you?" asked Mei, "What if you are wrong?"

"Then I pray I am. What if I am right? Are you going to take responsibility when your village or perhaps your country is destroyed by Madara?" said Tsunade.

"Rumors have appeared of late about Akatsuki members living in your village, as well as the former criminals Yuki, Kori, Sasuke Uchiha, and his team. The later were experiments and allied with former Akatsuki member, Sannin, and fugative Orochimaru," said Onoki.

"I have met Yuki," stated A, "She informed me herself that she was not working with any Akatsuki members."

_Well that wouldn't be lie, when they decided to live in Konoha, they became shinobi for the village, _thought Tsunade.

"I am not sure," said Mei, "Tsunade has done rash things in the past."

"As have you Mei," retorted Tsunade, "The only shinobi living in my village are those who have sworn alligence to Konoha. As for Sasuke and his team, yes they _were _part of Orochimaru's affiliations, but his name has been cleared due to the fact Danzo worked _with _Madara and he tried to assassinate me. Thankfully I have capable jonin who saw through the plot and saved the villagers before Pein attacked and destroyed half my home. Now are we going to decide on what to do about Madara or sit here and talk about rumors like school children?"

"Why should be help you? Madara was the name of a former Konoha nin, correct? Is it not tradition and law that villages take care of their own criminals?" stated A.

"That would be true if he was a part of Konoha, Madara hasn't been affiliated with the village for _quite_ some time now. Trust me when I say this, if we do not all unite...we will all fall," warned Tsunade.

"What of the jinchuriki?" asked Mei, "Isn't the Kazekage one as well?"

"I am here because my duties as a Kage are greater," said Gaara, "The other two jinchuriki are safe for the time being. Only two people have knowledge of where they might be and that is A and Lady Tsunade herself."

"What if Madara decides to attack here and capture you?" asked Onoki.

"That is what our body guards are here for, and I am not one to be taken lightly," he replied, "I have thought of something already if that were the case."

"One would hope so," said Mifune.

**Unknown Location**

**No POV**

It had been days since he started training Kori and telling her about her 'family' he began to use the Tsukuyomi to brainwash Kori into believing all the lies he told her. It wasn't like he gave her any reason not to, and she was to easy to trick. Under his careful watch she relearned all her med jutsu, her water element, and a few other tricks. Overtime she 'relearned' her 'Kekkei Genkai' as well. When she 'recorded' Madara for the first time he praised her for gaining the Sharringan and manipulated her to colour her eyes with her chakra when she used it.

She also adopted a new style, chopping off all her hair to be like Nii-san, having it all short around except for the left side which hung over her left eye, and making new clothes.

Now she was using black, navy blues, reds, purples, and whites. She wore a full black cloak over her usual outfit and a cracked porcelain mask that used to belong to Madara, outfitting it with red and purple tear markings to symbolize her regret for forgetting about 'her clan'. Under her cloak was a navy blue tanktop bodysuit armor and black gloves so she could reveal her tatoos and use them quickly and in rapid succession if needed, covering her lower half was a black and red skirt made from Madara's old Akatsuki cloak that had various lengths of cloth that wrapped around her and was sewn together and held up by a red belt, and she kept her old black shinobi boots to complete the set. Since her body was now an efficient weapon she no longer needed to hold all her pigments and paints, which were retrived by Zetsu, any longer. To finish the set she made a Kohaku Clan symbol hair pin that kept her hair parted on her right side.

When she believed she was ready she walked up to Madara looking down to the Land of Iron. Clicking her tounge she watched him, "So Nii-sama, is it time?"

"Yes," he said closing his eyes, "Remember what I told you."

"I know be seen but be invisible," she rolled her eyes.

"Not funny, I already lost you once," he resting his hand on her shoulder.

"I know," she smiled, "Look don't worry about it. You helped me remember everything and Kabuto-san said that there was no more drugs in my system. These pricks will pay, especially Tsunade."

Her eyes darkened and now resembled the Sharringan as she covered her face with the mask. Touching Madara, she recorded everything that he instructed her too. Now all she needed was to infiltrate the Kage Summit, not that it would be hard, she just wrapped herself in her Chamelon Shroud and bounded off. Samurai were too easily fooled, and she learned how to mask her chakra under Madara's tutelage. There was a small pause before she turned to look at her Nii-san and bid him goodbye.

"Be swift," he said.

As she came closer to the Summit and she noticed the increase of guards, which wouldn't have been a problem if their chakra were similar to their other counterparts. She was unsure if they were shinobi in disguise or they were just higher ranked officers, but she knew from what Madara told her, the senior officers had horns on thier helmets and their chakra signatures should be the same. Concentrating she watched the new group of samurai with curiosity for a while before she picked one she would impersonate. Carefully she took out a small scroll out of her pocket inside her cloak and used one of her many tattoos to draw out the armor that particular samurai was wearing down to the last chip in the armor. After she finished her work she pulled the scroll over her head and as she did so, she phased through the parchment, however the sketch was left on her in full color, and exact copy of the other armor. Then she pushed a thought into the samurai's head that they needed to relive themselves and it would only take a few moments. When the samurai was near, she quickly struck below the chin where the armor had a weakness, a space that reavealed the throat, and prevented the person from screaming. Then she pulled them forward, angled thier skull, and then she struck them in the back of the head and knocked them out.

Carefully she placed the armored person down and took off the helmet. There she frowned. She recognized this person in the suit. It was the one they called Hinata, her supposed best friend. Letting a soft snort of disgust leave her, she carefully touched foreheads with the girl and absorbed her memories regarding mannerisms and vocal patterns she needed. Coloring her face to match that of Hinata, she moved on and tied up the girl to make sure she wouldn't give her any trouble. Then she fried her three pathways leading her her arms so she couldn't use chakra, and two in her legs to prevent her from moving, and then she finally gagged the girl before laying her down out of the way.

After her disguise was complete she made off to the rest of the group before she would cause suspicion. As she made her way back she was yelled at by one of the other members.

"Hinata! You gotta remember to act all samurai. If this Madara attacks and sees us here we are toast."

"Sorry K-kiba-kun," 'Hinata' apologized, "I am just...I have a bad feeling about this."

"Same here," he said, "Something smells off."

_Tsk. Smell, Inuzuka. Take him out before he realizes that I am not Hinata,_she thought as she closed the distance between them. She made and excuse that his mask was sloppy and she should fix it, which seemed to be a common practice with this group, which he complained he couldn't smell with it fitting properly. She only smiled as she used a slight of hand to slip a sleeping pill into his mask before securing it, after a few seconds it went off and he collapsed in her arms. She caught him and stashed away his body carefully and looked around for his canine companion, Akimaru, in case he was on this trip. When she scanned the area she noticed the coast was clear and made her way into the Summit, with little resistance. If she was encountered by any regular officers, she just stacked horns on her helmet and they didn't even notice.

After she followed the pathway that Madara told her, she removed the armor by reversing the process on the scroll and headed up the small crawl space meant for escape when the Daimyos needed to get away quickly from intruders. Though for her it was large enough, with plenty of room, she wasn't fat like some of the daimyo that she had learned about. Though that was a long time ago when the Daimyos met in the Land of Iron, she was just suprised Mifune or his predecessors never did anything about them, but she had to be careful. Just because they were still open, didn't mean that they were not tampered with. Holding out her forearm, she sent a minitureized panther to move ahead, though currently it would be mistaken for a black cat. It would tell her if there was any danger ahead...

**Kage Meeting Room...**

"So, everyone has made thier final decision then?" asked Gaara.

"It would appear so," said Tsunade.

"We are agreed, if we are to stop Madara, then we must work together," said Mei, "Putting aside _all_ our differences."

"When can we expect Yuki?" asked A.

"She is actually in this room," said Tsunade pointing to a corner.

Yuki came out of the shadows, "Sorry about that, I just wanted to make sure nothing interrupted us. I placed a sound barrier around the room. Anyone will hear a recording of all of you fighting."

"Is there a reason for the theatrics?" asked A.

"Yep, Madara or any of his minions should crash the party," said Yuki, "Just wanted to make sure to catch them off guard."

"Then we shall inform the Daimyo," said Mei.

"Not just yet," said Yuki, "He's late."

"You said," started Tsunade before a small crash interrupted her.

"Its Madara!" cried Mei as the Kage and their escorts readied for attacks.

The cloaked figure stood there only for a moment before disappearing. This figure was using the Body Flicker Technique with accuracy and rapid succession to begin to take out the guards of the Kage, and thin out the numbers. As the figure ran around the room, a white man, or creature bloomed out from the floor.

"Having trouble?" he said.

"Zetsu!" cried Yuki.

Yuki jumped into the fray, aiming for the White Zetsu to prevent him from siphoning any chakra from the others, or capture Gaara. They had just cornered Zetsu when he escaped underground to try and outmaneuver them. Yuki was smart enough to have Temari toss her into the air and aim at the ground around Gaara to smash up the earth, hopefully getting Zetsu in the process. The plant man was struck with the compressed air attack and he was interrupted in his movement and bounced in the air. However before he was captured, Madara already had Gaara in his hands. Looking at Gaara, 'he' looked away before starring at Temari and Kanukro as 'he' snapped off Gaara's head.

"Pathetic," said 'Madara', "This the best you can do? Puppets? Hand over the jinchuriki and I will allow you to live as I achieve my Eye of the Moon Plan."

Then 'Madara', went into detail about 'his' plan and how they would benefit so much if they would just agree. A, Tsunade, Kankuro, and Temari quite vividly told him where he could stick his plan and refused to hand them over. Needless to say 'he' wasn't happy, but more important matters required his attention, and he rolled a small object into the middle of the room before 'he' and Zetsu disappeared.

_Yuki, I am sorry, this is for the best. I just hope you survive, _thought Kori as she watched from a distance, waiting for her 'present' to fully bloom.

As the two escaped, Yuki watched the metallic object roll to the floor, she thought the device looked familiar. Suddenly one of the sensory nin informed them that a mass of chakra was inside the device and the device itself was causing a chain reaction within the device. Yuki watched the ball release a familiar looking smoke on the floor, and she knew she had seen it somewhere before, she just couldn't place it. Then she smelled it, sulfur. It then hit her.

"EVERYONE OUT NOW!" she cried, "IT IS A BOMB!"

The Kage's scrambled together and left the room, while Tsunade, A, and Yuki came together and punched a hole in the roof to toss the object outside. They were fast, but not fast enough, the ball had just cleared the hole when a lightning element charge was released as well as fire to finish the job, and the explosion errupted through the room.

As the dust cleared, the Kage's looked in horror as the entire room was leveled to dust and half of the celing was missing. Large piles of debris were everywhere and there was no trace of A, Yuki, or Tsunade. Temari and Kankuro started digging in the rubble, as well as Kakashi, whom until now was watching out for the other Kage and had to help evacuate the wounded. They had just about given up hope when a large pile of rubble moved and was tossed away by Tsuade and A, leaving a very frazzled looking Yuki between them. The ground had been blown away just in time for them to keep from being crushed by the debris, no dout Yuki's doing.

"Ow," said Yuki very weakly.

"Save your voice," said Tsunade, "You bursted your vocal cords with that tecnique."

Yuki nodded her head and was sent of to be healed along with the others. When she was healed she was confronted by the Kage about what that device was.

"A crude bomb made of pressurized chakra to increase the blast and methane gas to start the explosion. Inside were two rods charged with Lightning release, possibly because under the methane was Nitrogen that is very explosive when sparked if it hasn't bonded with oxygen yet, and the fire release was probably a secondary back up if the first ignition failed. If we had not have tossed it up, the first shock would have ignited the methane gas that was being pumped into the room. That attack of Madara's wasn't just to capture Gaara, it was to distract us while he laced the air with natrual gas to trap us in that explosion," she informed them, "I don't know if Madara could come up with something like this himself, but he has been around a while."

_Kori, just where the hell are you? _thought Yuki as she explained everything.

"So this was just the first of his plans, we can't let this spook us, we _have _to be ready," she said.

"We shall inform the Daimyos of this and insist that we ban together," said Mifune, "Kage, with me."

**Meanwhile**

Kori met back up with Madara with teary eyes, she knew that 'Yuki' was not quick enough to escape the blast. Plus that girl would do anything considering she just 'lost' a sister. If only she knew. Madara picked up on her distress and asked what happened.

"Yuki was there Nii-san," she told him.

"She wasn't supposed to be there," said Madara, "If I had of known."

"It is alright Nii-san," she said, "It wasn't like I can remember the _real_ her. I don't want to remember a lie, I want to know what she was like _before_ they changed her and they did all the things you said to us."

* * *

**Kohaku Clan**- An actual clan from the anime. The Kohaku clan was attacked by Furido's 4-Man Team, and subsequently killed. The deceased members of this clan were later revived as zombies by their killers and used in Furido's attack on Konoha. The members have the symbol of black futatsudomoe (double tomoe shaped like yin and yang) tattoed on their upper arm with two lines going around it.

Since there is little to no information other than the above about them, it would be safe for me to use this clan as the 'fake' family of Yuki and Kori. Considering it kinda fits with the whole 'prophecy' that the Sage Toad mentioned in earlier chapters, due to the clan symbol... It also is funny that the translation is something important to me...lol. If you want to know when you see this clan it was in the Twelve Guardian Arc and they were resurrected as zombies. Now here is where I make shit up about them:

The Kohaku clan was known for thier sensory abilities, ranging from sensing chakra to people's thoughts or emotions, they were highly skilled at chakra control to help in their abilities. They were eventually hunted down and killed because of the fear that rose against them.

* * *

**gunitatsuhiko:**I am glad you liked it, I found it hilarious when I wrote it. Still gives me giggles picturing it. Really doesn't matter who is speaking, though the 'emo butt' part screams Kori. Psht, me and you would be in hog heaven then but it is still illegal to kill stupid people. *Sighs*

**Alpenwolf:**I really don't know if he would like it. Neji seems more of a 'I like you because you are being yourself' types of dudes because of that restrictive lifestyle he used to see himself in. Anyways...Thank you, I loved writing that story, actually that was the only 'planned' one of the whole bunch...the rest were 'winging it'. No he wasn't, that boy needs some 'serious' sometimes. Yeah to all of you who got a headache or had a headache when reading this chapter, ironically when I posted it, I had the BIGGEST migrane I have had in years. Though I really don't get migraines, hence the years part.

**Sukaretto Miyuki:**yes, there is my bunny out of the hat..Yeah I figured, I am trying to see how people would react to 'new layers' added onto the characters. Honestly, I am kinda getting tired of the 'same old' Naruto characters, they are getting pretictable...and no using Naruto's title "Worlds Most Unpredictable Ninja" against me. Yes, the pervert in me was screaming at that point in time..it has been a while sense I was pervish...okay maybe not that long. Thanks. -reads rest of review- Seriously you are stuck on the word Sex-er-sice? LOL.

**ThorLuvR:** Thank you so much. I try. Yeah Deidara is a 'flexiable' character to work with, we see enough of him to get a good idea but not enough of him to have his personality drilled into our skulls...so yeah 'flexiable'. Wow you liked Kisame in that bit? Well, I may have Kisame give good advice more often...wait...I think I felt a part of the universe die with that statement. You are most welcome with your OC's and Dei's kiss. No honest to god I made her whole history up by myself..there were a few already existing insparations like the "Facedancers" in Dune, that was why I gaver her the last name...but the rest of it was all me. The practice itself was loosely, very loosely, tied to wiccanism..in a very extended way..when they were hunted down because of what was 'belived' they did...anyway..Yes well we won't quite focus on them for at least another chappy.

* * *

**River: **Alright another chappy down and another costume change for Kori, and it is getting really action packed. Hopefully I can write a break in there or I may kill you guys with suspense...and I am not sure if I am evil enough to do that...scratch that...I am not sure you want me to be evil enough to do that. Alright, hopefully I can shoot another chapter down in the next two days, I have them off from school for break.


	41. Chapter 41:Darkness Within

**Island Turtle **

**No POV**

Gaara and Naruto had a hard time convincing B to help them, but eventually they received help. Naruto had already passed the test in the Falls of Truth, as instructed by Motoi. It was now Gaara's turn to stand there. He wasn't sure what was going on but he caught the jist of what he had to do. Face himself, that shouldn't be so difficult. Gaara made his way to the platform and began to see what he was like inside. He closed his eyes and entered himself as he watched Naruto do before him. When he entered he was surprised at what he saw.

On the inside of his mind, he was starring at not another version of himself, but a younger version of himself.

" Why are you here?" young Gaara asked.

"I must be here," said Gaara.

"Then I must be brave, beat anything that comes here," said young Gaara.

The young Gaara stepped forward and Gaara was ready for him. He brought up his sand but found it did not work. He tried again but the same result happened. He stepped back thinking that the water from the falls was conflicting with his sand manipulation. Young Gaara continued to move forward and under his robes he produced a kunai. Gaara stopped moving, and narrowed his eyes at his younger self. the boy was only going to come after him with a kunai? What about Shukaku? He then began to wonder about why he was being shown his former self instead of that of his present self. Maybe this was part of the test.

"Why do you keep starring?" said the boy.

"I am curious why you haven't grown up," said Gaara, "It has been years since I looked like you."

"But I am not you," said the boy, "And I am also you."

"That doesn't make sense," said Gaara.

"Then you are slower than you look," said Young Gaara before he began swinging the kunai at Gaara, attacking him.

Gaara had not trouble dodging the boy was no trouble at all, "Please stop."

"But uncle said that I should become strong to prove I am worth lots," said Young Gaara.

"Uncle?" asked Gaara when he caught the hand of Young Gaara and took away the kunai.

"AHH!" screamed Young Gaara before he escaped and ran behind a shadow.

It stepped forward and Gaara immediately recognized the figure, his uncle Yashamaru. He cursed under his breath as he prepared to kill the man before he could do anything to his former self. However Yashamaru was adamant to protect Young Gaara and stepped forward to meet Gaara's enraged attack head on.

"You!" Gaara sneered, "Why are you here?"

"Leave my precious nephew alone!" growled Yashamaru, "I will not let you touch him!"

"Why so you can crush his dreams and spirit by betraying him?" screamed Gaara, "I am going to kill you before that happens."

"Fourth!" yelled Yashamaru, "You will not have him!"

"Fourth?" said Gaara dodging an attack, "I am not my father. I am the _Fifth_ Kazekage."

"Do not lie to me," yelled Yashamaru before he backed away and scooped up Young Gaara.

Gaara tried to attack Yashamaru before he could get away with his young self but they disappeared. Gaara was left there alone to wonder what just took place. He still couldn't wrap his mind around what happened. He was supposed to be facing his inner self, not some memory of his past...

**Meanwhile**

**Kage Summit**

**No POV**

Tsunade and the others informed the Daimyo what had just happened and they all agreed that Madara should be stopped. The only thing left to do was to decide who was going to lead the Allied Shinobi Forces. After a few minutes of thought Yuki was nominated but she bowed out because she claimed she was in no condition to lead and had little experience, Mei was not fully trusted by everyone, Mifune and Onoki were too old, and Gaara was not an option, A and Tsunade were the only ones left. While they were in debate about who was actually going to lead the forces, everyone sent one of the guards to deliver the message to thier Hidden Village that they were to prepare for war, and the meeting place where the jonin could meet.

After a few moments, since Gaara and Tsunade had already began to prepare for the war, with or without the support of the other Kage, Tsunade was chosen...

**Elsewhere**

**No POV**

Madara didn't expect the Kage to actually put up a fight and be prepared for 'his' intrusion. He bit his lip, maybe he was being to careless. He wanted to know why he had been foiled in his plans. Then he looked at Kori for a moment. She was starring up at the sky, lost in thought. He then made his way over to her before sitting down beside her.

"Kori, why did the Kage know that I was coming?" asked Madara.

"I don't know," said Kori, "Yuki would be the one to ask. She was there and if she was there then she must be why they were ready. Maybe her genjustu made me stand there forever so they could get ready."

"Are you sure?" asked Madara.

"Well," said Kori, "I had a dream a couple nights ago about you being dead, but it was nothing more than a nightmare."

"Dreams have nothing to do with why they knew," said Madara.

"Are you saying I _told _them?" she said suprised.

"Perhaps, that or Kabuto isn't being truthful. Go to him and make sure he is telling the truth to us. If he isn't the suspect then there might be something you have forgotten and it is hindering us." said Madara.

"Nii-san," Kori sighed, "quit being paranoid. I will do this for you but you said it yourself that the Konoha ninja were too nosy for thier own good."

"Yes I did, but when they were being particularly troublesome _you and Yuki _were with them," said Madara.

"Oh," she said disheartened.

"Never mind" said Madara, "Just go find Kabuto, he should be with Zetsu."

Kori did as she was asked, and began to hunt for Kabuto...

**Inside Gaara**

**NO POV**

He stood there for only another moment before another version of himself appeared before him. He sighed, "Another memory?"

"You wish," said Gaara before him, "That wasn't supposed to happen. Something intervined. It has been delt with."

"I see," said Gaara monotonly, "Then shall we get this over with?"

"What?" it asked, "So willing to give in? I thought you would have put up more of a fight."

"You are nothing, not me, and shall never be me. Whatever you are, it doesn't matter. You will be crushed," said Gaara.

"So bold," it replied, "Let's see if you can back up those words."

It summoned the sand that Gaara carried with him and began to attack, if on instinct the sand that he used defended him. After the Dark Gaara's attack was pulled back for a second volley of sand needles, Gaara's sand encased him in an armor. Gaara could feel a tug with the sand, pulling him closer to the dark version of him. He understood what it was he was facing, but he couldn't understand why his sand wanted him closer to it. At first Gaara tried to resist, attempting to avoid the volley, but the sand only deflected it like it was nothing and tugged harder.

He caved with the sand and allowed it to move for him. The sand threw away every attack and seemed to be absorbing the useless attacks of the Dark Gaara. He couldn't understand why this was happening. From what he heard from Naruto, it took him a while to figure out how to beat his inner self, but this seemed ridiculous. As he neared, the Dark Gaara was forced back. He seemed to be winning, and as he crept closer the sand peeled off of him and sat by his side, taking the form of his Younger self. Gaara looked at the sand.

"Mother said to help you," said Young Gaara.

"No," replied Gaara, "I will do this on my own, stop helping. If you do not, then I will never defeat what lies within me. Leave."

"Hmph," scoffed the Young Gaara, "Then you will pay the price of not letting me help you. You don't realize what I am. Even after so long..."

"Shukaku?" asked Gaara in disbelief.

"Yes," Young Gaara said, "In here, I can talk better. Stupid, slow thing(1)."

"Says the drunk," said Gaara, "Reason why you are here?"

"Mother said if dark thing come, then Gaara be in trouble. I help Gaara so I be let out, I only do what she says," said Shukaku appearing as Young Gaara, "She said me look like this, me not scare you. Uncle was to get you to play."

"I must do this on my own Shukaku," said Gaara.

"Fine, you get to listen to it when you beat that," Shukaku said pointing to Dark Gaara, "I help no more."

"That isn't fair!" cried the Dark Gaara, "Shukakku is supposed to be asleep. Why is it here?"

"I wish I knew," said Gaara, "Anyways, die."

Gaara used his Sand Coffin to crush the Dark Gaara before it had time to react. When he belived that he was dead, he summoned his sand to him. Dark Gaara however was not dead, just a bit bruised and laughing.

"You really think I am easily defeated," it said before attacking him again.

"Not really, I just wanted to see if you would be affected by attacks," shrugged Gaara.

This pissed off Dark Gaara and he began to try and use any means necessary to kill Gaara, even trying to taunt Gaara with painful past memories, which didn't seem to work. Gaara began to dodge and weave around the attacks of Dark Gaara, his sand shielding him when he needed it. He wouldn't have had to actually move if it were another opponent, but it was himself he was facing. Strengths would be overused and weaknesses exploited if either were able, but Gaara couldn't be so lucky, Dark Gaara was pressing the offensive. The Young Gaara embodiment of Shukaku was standing there watching the conflict take place but seemed to be frozen in place.

The tailed beast was conflicted, personally he didn't care who won though his inner nature wanted to kill everything in sight. However, once a long time ago he was stupid enough to amuse a human dying by hearing it speak and was curious on what it wanted. That lead to a certain event taking place with Shukaku that it hated to remember but curiosity was its weakness, but not its greatest one. However, it was not his place to do anything right now but sit back and watch. Part of him got used to the idea of driving Gaara insane slowly and tolerated the boy, but the other part of him wanted the Darkness to consume Gaara so he could easily take control over his host's body and be free. One could wonder about some things...

Gaara while, avoiding the onslought saw a small weakness in the so called absolute defense, it wasn't like his sand at all. The Dark Gaara seemed to have to focus on attacking _and _defending with the sand unlike Gaara who's sand instinctivly defended himself. So gathering his sand he did two things. He unleashed a hail of sand needles, causing Dark Gaara to defend himself with the sand while Gaara made a Sand Clone to distract Dark Gaara. As Dark Gaara defended himself, he saw the Sand Clone and attacked, becoming trapped within the sculpture. Gaara encased his own sand around Dark Gaara's preventing him from moving it easily and then walked up to Dark Gaara.

"As I said you are not me, and never will be me. I have put all those memories in the past where _they belong_ and I will do the same to you. My experiances taught me that you are nothing more than a shadow and you can not defeat me, disappear," said Gaara.

The Dark Gaara looked as if he was about to resist but instead he cried out before he transformed into sand and vanished in the wind(2), leaving Gaara there by himself. Well almost there by himself, the childlike Shukaku was still present and it piqued Gaara's curiosity.

"Why are you here?" asked Gaara.

"My own reason," said Shukaku, "We shall meet again, bye."

The Shukaku doll disappeared in a similar fashion as the Dark Gaara but he knew that this was not the last time Gaara would face Shukaku, it even said so itself. Gaara woke shortly after in the falls and rose up to greet Naruto, B, and Motoi standing there. B and Motoi were cautious but they were snapped out of it when Naruto hugged his friend.

"You did it," said Naruto.

"You doubted me?" asked Gaara eyeing Naruto.

"No," smiled Naruto.

"Let go of me, or you will get wet sand all over you," said Gaara breaking off the hug to dry out his sand.

"It itches," said Naruto after he realized the sand was actually on him.

"Sometimes it irritates the skin," replied Gaara, "So what is next?"

"Yo, you two beat the dark within, the light shows through, next step is to follow me. Together, two by two," said B.

Naruto just joined in on the fun while Gaara just stayed silent. They made their way into the temple behind the Falls of Truth where B instructed Gaara and Naruto on what to do. He insisted that they go one by one, just in case one of the beasts got out of control.

"They can be a hassle, so Naruto is the first to go. Gaara will be the second to go, so we have two jinchuriki to keep the peace out here yo!" said Killer B.

"Alright," said Gaara and Naruto at the same time.

Naruto took his position and Gaara watched for what seemed like hours for B and Naruto to begin the process of controlling the Kyuubi. While this was happening Motoi began to explain what was going on and how Gaara was going to proceed with defeating his tailed beast.

"B will tell Naruto what to do, but he may be weak after dealing with the Kyuubi. So what you need to do is release the seal on Shukaku and reseal him. However when you release Shukaku you must not fall under its influence or it will take control of you," said Motoi.

"That won't be a problem, I was once used as a weapon for my village. My Feign Sleep Technique was used to release Shukaku when he was needed for destruction," said Gaara, "Once I was falling under his mind affecting ability causing me to mistake him as Mother. When Naruto defeated me, he knocked some sense into me and I learned to get more control over Shukaku. It doesn't try so hard to escape but every now and then I still hear him. Though now I can deal with my insomnia more effectively."

"So you already have some control," said Motoi, "Interesting."

"Shukaku also entered my consiousness when I was facing my inner self. He told me he was supposed to keep the darkness from taking me but he wouldn't say why. I asked him again and he disappeared," said Gaara.

"That is troubling," said Motoi, "You may not be able to preform this ritual to gain control over your tailed beast, or you may not have to. I have never been a Jinchuriki so I wouldn't know. When B comes out of it, or if Nii was still alive, maybe they could answer your question."

Thier conversation was interrupted when B 'woke up' from dealing with Kyuubi and Naruto. He was gripping about having to waste energy containing a Tailed Beast Ball on a silly kid who didn't think _before_ he let out a Tailed Beast. All they could do now was wait on Naruto to see if he would win or if the Tailed Beast, Kyuubi would take over. Currently time was not on thier side.

As Naruto came around he was bouncing off the walls with glee about how he had mastered the form. Which was an utter fail of his being overconfident since as he boasted, he lost concentration and reverted back to his normal form. It was Gaara's turn next and he tried to mentally prepare himself for the event as he asked Killer B about what already communicating with Shukaku meant. Killer B just said that it was part of working with the Tailed Beasts, and that he has more control over it than most untrained Jinchuriki, especially for his age and it wouldn't be a problem for him to undergo the ritual, he would just have to be careful.

As he entered himself once again he was brought to a house in the desert. He looked around and noticed that the building itself was empty, all save for a jar in the middle of the room and Young Gaara. Then he made his way over to the only window of the place and looked outside, he was back home in Suna, but it was empty of everything other than the Kage's building and his house. When he went to leave the building, he realized he couldn't move beyond the window, and when he tried the door it would not budge.

"You can't get out, no one can," said Shukaku Gaara, "Not with out key."

"Where is the key?" asked Gaara.

"In the pot," said Shukaku,"she won't like it though if you try and get key."

"Who won't?" asked Gaara.

"Mom," he said, "She is always here. Watching. She watch you too."

"Mother?" he asked, confused, "I always though you were Mother."

"Yes and no," said Shukaku, "I ate away mind but Mother was already there, she has no voice. She can only watch. If she think you do wrong, I take over. I am what you say I am but not like what you think. I made when they spoke. Long time ago."

"Explain," said Gaara rubbing his temples, "This is very confusing."

"Key and Mother in pot," said Shukaku, "Open and explained."

The Young Gaara disappeared into a pile of sand, leaving Gaara confused and with a headache. He shrugged his shoulders and then he made his way over to the pot. There he saw that there was a long strip of paper on top of a lid that had the kanji for the word 'seal' on it. He touched the paper and could feel malice inside. However he was not afraid of facing the real Shukaku. He ripped open the container and the whole scenery shifted. The earth itself shook and the building crumbled. A powerful sandstorm ripped away at everything but him until there was nothing left but the true form of Shukaku and a vast desert around them.

"You released me?" Shukaku said, "Foolish. Now you will die."

Young Gaara appeared beside him, "I no think so. You said you would not."

"What on earth?" wondered Gaara aloud.

"Hmph," grumbled Shukaku, "This is the final deal I made with her. Lucky brat."

The Young Gaara was stomped on by Shukaku and Gaara was taken back. When Shukaku moved his paw a woman was standing there. She looked at Shukaku and then at Gaara. She smiled widely and hugged him, suprising Gaara. Taking the sand around her she began to spell out words: Hello son.

"Son?" he said, "You can't be Mother."

Yes. I am your mother Karura. I am sorry I can't speak.

"This is a lie!" said Gaara.

"I wish," groaned Shukaku, "I was foolish enough to be entertained by a passing spirit."

I was the sacrifice for placing Shukau into you. During the transfer, my soul brushed against it and we spoke. My wish was to protect you, and it said it was bored. So it took some of my chakra and it did not think my will would live on. With the chakra I was able to fufill my wish and protect my precious son. Though it came with a price, I could never reach out to you..never speak to you. Shukaku took my pain and weakened your mind making you belive it was Mother. After the mental link was broken thanks to Naruto, I was able disrupt the link and make it harder for him to talk to you. That child like version of you was what was left of the fight that took place that day. When we clashed our chakra bonded and made that child.

"Okay," said Gaara trying _not _to have a mental breakdown.

I lived within you until you got your sand, then I practically hitchhiked on your chakra and transferred some of my will into your sand, creating your Absolute Defense. Now I protect you.

"Sooo," he said, "I get that...now care to explain to me why my father kept trying to kill me and my uncle decided to go all schizo on me and cause me to have a mental breakdown and turn me into a sleep deprived lunatic who only listened to the Tailed Beast?"

Trust me, I wanted to bury your father for that for some time now, but you kept your distance and unfortunatly Karma beat me. As for Shukaku, we have been talking for years and I have managed to teach him how to speak better and those conversations lead to it calming down..or cracking. As for my brother...When I see him in the afterlife, if my soul hasn't already...I will kill him again. NOBODY messes with my baby EVER. I will sand scrub thier skin off slowly and burry them in a cave for years only allowing enough oxygen in there for them to survive as it takes them weeks until they die.

"I do not cross her," said Shukaku, "She is mean."

I am a mother. Terroize a mother's children and see what hell unleashes on the poor soul who dared cause thier baby to cry. I love Gaara with every ounce of my soul..in this case will. It is the one thing that has kept me going. Now mess with my baby Shukaku and see what happens.

"No thank you," said Shukaku.

Gaara laughed, "You are afraid of a remnant of my Mother's Will?"

"I warned you," Shukaku said before Gaara found himself burried under _his own _sand.

Everyone else will pay but Garra, apologize to Shukaku. That was out of line. He is sweet when you get to know him.

_I bet he is a teddy bear, _thought Gaara before he apologized, fearing a second burial by his Mother's Will, "I apologize."

"Now, we have known each other for sometime now," said Shukaku, "I don't see why it is unreasonable for me to leand you my power."

"You are being awfully nice," said Gaara.

"I know when to fight and when to bow out, unlike some of my siblings." said Shukaku, "Mainly Kyuubi. Overgrown fluff ball doesn't know when to shut up."

"You talk to one another?" asked Gaara.

"We used to before the shiobi devided us up into villages to 'protect' themselves. Nibi and Hachibi are together, or were until the Akatsuki stepped in. So were Yonbi and Gobi, well I think they are together," said Shikaku, "But you understand me."

"I get your point," said Gaara, "So if you are not going to fight, where does that lead us?"

"Oh no, I want to make sure you are strong enough to use my power," said Shukaku, "So spar against me and we shall see brat."

What was that?

"Nothing," said Shukaku, looking as if he were a puppy being scolded.

I thought so..Anyway. GO BABY! Kick that Tanuki's butt!

Gaara prepared his sand while Shukakku miniaturized himself for better mobility. It was rough to say for sure, Shukaku's wind mastery was causing Gaara to have to gather up more sand along with his own. His mother, joined into the fray when she believed that Shukaku was fighting dirty and became Gaara's Ultimate Defense once again. It was a few, what seemed like, hours before Gaara finally managed to cage Shukaku in a sand castle of all things. Shukaku laughed and sat there happily.

"Well you are one of the more creative hosts," he said flicking his tail happily, "I suppose you will do."

"That is it?" asked Gaara.

"That is it," said Shukaku, "Before you leave, anything you wish to say to Karura before you go?"

He knows I love him Shukaku Bear(3).

"Hey does this mean you will still pet me?" asked Shukaku.

Gaara quickly left before the whole scene got even _more _wierd. Before he officially left, the sand sculpture of his mother hugged and kissed him before wishing him well and promising to always protect him. When he was finally out of his inner world he wanted to laugh, cry, and go into a corner and die of humiliation at the same time. Naruto and the others looked at him.

"What happened to you?" asked Naruto.

"I think Shukaku is a puppy of sorts, and he loves my mom," said Gaara, "You wouldn't belive me if I told you."

Then Gaara and Naruto, shortly followed by B, went into details about how they defeated their Tailed Beasts and what went on inside thier head as they did so. Though it was still apparent that Gaara won the 'weirdest experience' award while Naruto took 'most traumatic'. Since Naruto was almost consumed and he had to meet both his dead parents _before _ he got control over the Kyuubi. Though when they finished comparing stories, Naruto claimed they both had something in common. Both their father's were Kage and their mothers protected them until the end. Then Killer B tried to tease them that they were twins separated at birth, which caused them to punch him.

* * *

1. Shukaku's personality is depicted as being cunning but incoherent. So I did a bit of tweaking to it, since it is inside Gaara..Shukakku will have very little to say so it can get the message across more clearly, though it still comes off as 'child-like'.

2. The idea for this is in The Mummy(1999 version) when Brendan Fraser scares Imhotep away with the cat and he bursts out of the room in a mini-sandstorm and flies out the window. Cool special effects if you ask me. You can view the scene on youtube by looking up: Imhotep Kills Mr. Henderson Scene - The Mummy Movie (1999) - HDYoutube. The particular scene is at 2:22 and on. I seriously love that movie...lol.

3. LOL..sorry I just thought this would be Gaara's mom. She is a mother until the end and her kindness would have softened Shukaku, who I really don't see as evil, just insane. Unlike the Kyuubi who goes out of its way to make a point that it is evil. Hence comment Shukaku said about it. So I hope you liked how I wrote her...I felt she needed more 'screen time' and what better way of doing it than a similar fashion of what Kushina appeared in the manga within Naruto.

On another note, the Memory of his Young Self and his Uncle was a foreshadowing and an introduction of Young Gaara who you find out was his mom mixed with Shukaku's chakra...so yeah, to save from confusion. Plus I really wanted to get in there about how much like his father Gaara looks like...really Gaara is like his clone..

* * *

**Alpenwolf: ** Yes shit is going down...Yeah, Kori is going to take on two roles that I liked about the Naruto-verse, which wouldn't have made it into the story if I hadn't of thought about it. I mean we all want that bit of drama in there, the frustration of me killing you guys of switching Kori's alightment and causing her to switch sides. No he didn't in actuallity Kori did...sorta, then the Kage offically did in this AU. Hmm, that is a good question, which will be answered sometime very soon. Yuki will be shocked yes, but I am not going to tell you why. As for reversing, I have a few ways I am thinking about breaking the Tsukiyomi, IF I break it. For all you guys know she will remain evil and possibly die at the end. Who knows...I am just enjoying reading the reviews and knowing I have made you cringe a little.

**gunitatsuhiko:** Oh shit is right, yes, yes...feel the anguish of being a reader. Did the drama well, no? LOL maybe she will maybe she won't. Well I don't mind if you do use Aiko, and returning the favor would be sweet, but you reviewing is enough. I already have a Cameo in Aplenwolf's story Rise of Evil, which I am now Betaing...for some reason..lol...long, intresting stream of events went in on that one. Well I looked at your stories and I am not sure which one I want to read first. I have a habit of reading my reviwer's stories if any of them seem appealing to me and they have any. Who knows, I may LOVE your story like I did with Alpen's. That and I wanna pick one of Miyuki's stories to read..

* * *

**River: **Woot, two chappies, two days. I am on a roll! Hopefully I can get enough inspiration to knock down another one. I hope you like what I did with everything...I decided not to cover the whole Naruto battles with his inner self and Kyuubi because I actually liked everything that happened with the Dark Naruto fight and the appearance of Kushina, but now I realize I am getting ahead of the Anime and some people don't read the manga...so I hope you guys know what is going on with Naruto...*crosses fingers* If not Narutowika will fill in the blanks.


	42. Chapter 42:Confusion

**(A/N: **I know that recently I have changed Kori's POV to a Third person because of her alignment switch, well her side switch, whatever..now I will bring 'her' POV back because from this point out it is going to get Heavy for her. So expect angst and drama...because I secretly love to torment you guys.)

**Unknown Location**

**Kori's POV**

I looked through everyone, and I could find nothing about any of them betraying us. That meant, that I had to be, but I was training with Nii-sama. That couldn't have happened? Could it? Maybe this Yuki, my so called sister was stronger than I thought. I remembered her having an extraordinary gift, but could her genjutsu really make me do all that? Perhaps Ino's family jutsu. I didn't know and I would not give Nii-sama a reason to believe that _I _was the reason they knew. All I know now is that I had a feeling in my gut that some big important thing was missing in my life. It wasn't love, if I wanted to go _that_ route, all I had to do was return to Konoha. There was something he wasn't telling me, but I knew better than to question any farther than I have so far.

I sat there in silence, getting lost in my own thoughts. I was trying to find another way to look at this. Another angle, there _had _ to be something. Every time I tried to recall any past memories from Konoha, my head ached. It was like my body didn't want to remember. Had they treated me badly? I was in good condition when Nii-sama found me, other than the poison they had been injecting me with. There wasn't much I could do about it, well for now. All I had to do was to get Nii-sama to believe that I should go back. They never identified me and I managed to get in and out quietly too. I followed his instructions, so there could be no reason that he wouldn't agree. However if I wanted answers, I needed to ditch Zetsu.

I sighed and looked around, feeling someone's presence behind me, it was Nii-sama. He was standing rather ridged with his arms crossed over his chest. I fought hard to keep from reacting, but when he was looking down at me, I could feel him trying to peer into me. I rose up slowly and stood there waiting for him to move. I stood as relaxed as I possibly could but there was something about his position that made dread creep up and try and coke me.

"Kori," he spoke in his 'serious buisness' voice, "What have you found?"

"Nothing Nii-sama," I said feeling regret trying to worm its way out, "Everyone is clean. Well none of them were responsible for the incident at the Kage Summit."

"I see," he said, "Well, then. This leave me no choice."

_Great, I am dead. _ I thought to myself as I looked at him, _ he is pissed._

He relaxed his body and I could hear the smile in his voice, "We will just have to try harder. I trust that _you _did not give us away. Your loyalty to me is not something that can be broken easily. I have even heard from Zetsu that you took out and bound Hinata, your best friend."

"_Former,_" I said interrupting.

"Shut up," he snapped, "As I was saying, your best friend. You are going to go back to Konoha and kill all the commanders that would stand in our way. Since they refused surrender, we have a war I did not wish to happen, but they are too stubborn to hold onto traditions that will cause us to war and hate one another. I want you to come with me, we are going to go to the Land of Frost. There you will meet up with one of the villages whom will take you to the Land of Fire.

The family I am sending you with has been instructed to say that you were taken in with severe injuries and have been on rest. Now that you have heard word that the War in imminent, you will return to Konoha and fight for your village. When you arrive, you will meet up with Kisame, whom should still be loyal to me and give him this scroll. To anyone else it would mean nothing, even with it being decrypted, but to him, it is his orders. As for the other former Akastuki members, you may kill them, but save Sasuke. I have an arrangement with Kabuto concerning him. Now let us be off."

I was floored to say the least, he was trusting me to not only stay by his side, but to return to the place I needed to be. I held my emotionless mask together as he handed me the scroll, only nodding to acknowledge that I understood my orders. I then had to adjust my outfit. I had to take off my skirt that would give away I had been in contact with Madara, or some other Akatsuki member, which I knew _most _of them were in Konoha. I just used my old outfit and tailored it to substitute for now, the rest was kept as it was, and I could easily make up a lie about the hair clip, but the mask I would have to leave in Nii-sama's care. The cloak I had, miniaturized and placed in my scroll that I carried on my belt. With everything set I headed off to the Land of Frost to meet up with his contacts.

When I arrived, they took me in and I had to throw together some healing injuries that could appear serious but not bad enough anymore to hinder me too much. It wasn't hard, and I was great at faking injuries, thanks to instruction from Kabuto. He was a snake that I loathed, but he had his uses. When things were ready, we headed out to Konoha in the Land of Fire...

**Hokage' Summit  
**

**NO POV**

"So we have finally reached a decision and everything is prepared," said Tsunade.

"Yes," said A curtly.

"I just hope they can forgive us," she sighed, "Yuki, return to Konoha, we have much work to do. Go and make sure everyone is ready. When things are set up, I will meet you at the battle field."

"What about the Land of Hot Water and the Land of Frost?" asked Yuki.

"Word has already been sent," said Mei, "They have already began to evacuate to the nearest country."

Reassured Yuki left to go home and tell them everything that had transpired.

**Land Of Fire**

**A few days later**

**Kori's POV**

I had reached the gates of Konoha. Traveling with civilians was tiresome and they were unreasonably slow. I was frustrated and tired of dealing with them, but I had no choice. I was supposed to fake injuries...augh! The shinobi at the gate were checking people's belongings, just in case there was anything unusual about the luggage. I just rolled my eyes, any 'spy' that would be interested in infiltrating Konoha would have done so weeks ago, but hell I was a spy. Sighing I just lied there, since the people who brought me here were _kind _enough to bound me to some sort of splint to 'prevent farther injury.' Injury my ass, this was hurting more than helping and I was dreadfully hot but where they were from was ridiculously cold...I just sighed in defeat. There was no way I could get up and just walk into the gates, I woud just have to lay in the back of the wagon, but they couldn't keep me still. I was just bouncing in the back and trying to get some steam blown off before I broke the wagon.

I looked at who was there, I recognized the faces as Izumo and Kotetsu. I just giggled, of course _they _ would be doing this. _Why not have an Inuzuka here instead? Aburame would be more efficant, so why just those two? Something isn't right, _I thought to myself. I looked around and thanked Kami that the wagon was covered. I rolled away from my peeping spot and shimmied as best I could to the edge of the wagon and looked for the nearest person that would have a better view than I. Right now I couldn't use any of my chakra, not without setting something off. If they were checking bags, Kami knows what else they were doing. I was stuck to say the least, I couldn't use my Impressionism but I could resort to just asking, as mundane as it was. _Stupid evil stupid...dammit..I hate pretending to be NORMAL._

I undid some of the curtain as the wagon stopped. I could hear some voices outside.

"We need to see what you are carrying."

"No. I am afraid the person inside is in need of medical attention. They arrived in our village not too long ago and if it were not for the order we would have attended to it ourselves. We are lucky she is still alive."

_Fuck, okay must fake sick, must fake injured...must fake. HOLY FUCK LIGHT! _I thought as I hissed in pain. A few days in the back of a _dark_ wagon that just had the covering _ripped _off was enough to cause me pain. I covered my eyes and began muttering curses.

"You are shitting me. Kotetsu! Is Yuki still here?"

"Why?"

"You wouldn't believe me.."

"Oh shut up," I heard as they walked closer, "Well damn."

"Will someone tell me what the fuck is going on I am _blind,_" I said totally forgetting to add temporary to that. I was then manhandled out of the cart and poofed somewhere. _Fuck._

Nii-sama had failed to mention that I wasn't welcome in Konoha. What the hell did I do to deserve this? I wasn't _that _bad, was I? There wasn't much I could do about it now. Right now I had to get my bearings and figure out exactly where I was. When my vision cleared I was starring at a familiar kunochi, Sakura. She was scanning my body, I huffed in frustration. She might be able to tell the difference between the fakes and the real deal.

"Why are you scanning me?" I asked.

"Because I am the best there is," she said,"You do realize how long you have been gone."

"Since yesterday?" I said trying to play the stupid card.

"Shit," she hissed right before barking orders of random drugs to be delivered to her. I was just caught up in the confusion. She huffed and returned her gaze, "You have been missing for weeks."

"Oh," I said, while thinking _ she seriously isn't _this _stupid is she?, _"I-I am sorry."

"You shouldn't apologize to _me_. Yuki has been up and down the walls looking for you," she said, "Erm, looks like you have some brain damage. Nothing serious, just some short term memory. Though I am not sure how far the damage is so don't quote me on the not serious part."

"O-okay," I said watching her intently, "Erm, I can do this myself you know. I had a fractured leg, bruised ribs, some head trauma, which I am sure isn't a surprise, and..memory loss."

Sakura just glared at me, "Well it is nice that you told me, but I have to make sure that there isn't anything wrong with you. Besides you said yourself you were gone yesterday...and you have all those injuries...if they happened today then your leg would still be broken. Right now it looks like you are healing. Though I have no idea why you didn't take care of this yourself."

_What does she mean take care of it myself? _"What do you mean?"

"Let me see your arm," she said extending her hand out towards me.

I brought both hands forward and she looked them both over, "Interesting. All your heal kanji are gone, but your poison ones are still there. There are also a few of your tattoos missing with a LOT more added. I am sorry I have to keep you here overnight so I can run some tests."

"You are fine," I said, "Maybe I was experimented on."

"Maybe, perhaps Starke would know," said Sakura.

_Starke, that name is familiar but where did I hear it from. Starke..._

Something in the back of my mind tickled. Like I was trying to make a great discovery but I had some mental block, I wondered. Sakura looked at me in hopes that I would retrieve this Starke myself but I looked at her confused. Then she sighed and gave up. Suddenly I was jerked forward and my shirt moved. She was inspecting my shoulder, where the wolf tattoo was. I hadn't thought about it. I figured that it was a normal tattoo, perhaps this was the Starke that she was mentioning. I did have my panther. Thankfully some of the newer ones, I hid. I had to shift a lot of my tattoos around and had to condense them down to either removing them and putting them on a scroll, or place them where she wouldn't see. Nii-sama told me that if I had a lot of unusual new tattoos they were going to ask questions. Perhaps I could blame Starke on the ones I forgot about hiding.

"He is sleeping," I told her, "He looked after me while I was out and he.."

"I see," she said getting up, "Then we will have to wait until he recovers."

A sharp pain hit me and I remembered who Starke was. The sentient wolf, he would be dangerous to let out. So I would have to trap him within a scroll and hide him. I pushed past the pain and looked at her and formed a weak smile.

"Remember something?" she asked.

"Yeah, a cave, that is it. I couldn't tell you where I was," I lied.

"Well don't think to hard," she said filling syringes full of drugs.

I fought hard to keep from flinching as she came towards me, _oh no that drug Nii-sama and Kabuto warned me about...I have to find a way out of this now. _ She could see the panic in my eyes and she stopped.

"It is nothing but some anti-inflammatory. To help with the pain of your swollen leg, and I have some antibiotics. Broad spectrum in case you contracted an infection. You can read all the labels of the medication if you wish," she said,"Something awful must have happened if you flinch at needles."

"Y-yeah," I said holding out my hand. She passed the bottles to me and they all were what she said they were, so she wasn't lying,"Okay...I can take it."

"Look while you and Starke rest, I need to inform Yuki that you are here, if she is still around. She has been running everywhere with the war coming," she told me while injecting me.

"She doesn't know?" I asked.

"Well Kiba found you and he was the one who told Izumo to get Yuki, but they can't leave their post. Tsunade sensei's orders," she sighed,"Don't worry I bet half of our friends already know you are here. They are either outside the door right now or are about to storm the place."

"This isn't the hospital, where am I?" I looked around.

"Inuzuka Compound. Tsume was kind enough to convert some of her home into a temporary hospital. I am surprised you didn't end up at the Hyuga Compound," she said while she heard a knock on the door.

_Why would I be at the Hyuga Compound..wait Hinata remembered me and her cousin Neji..so me and Neji are either good friends or together...Nii-sama why couldn't you fix this HUGE gap in my brain. I am going to have a headache after this. _

When she opened the door, Kiba stood there looking worn out. He looked at me and smiled, "Hey sorry I couldn't get you back to your princess but I kinda panicked when I saw you in the wagon. I freaked out on the family."

"You did what?" I yelled, "I will have you know they took good care of me...well what I can remember. You flea bitten mutt, I ought to skin your ass alive. Stay out of arms reach or I will bury you in the back yard."

"Well at least you remember me," he snickered, "Oh hey, um...Mom will be rampaging on you here in a few. After I flickered you here, I told Ino, who told everyone else. They are all trying to fit in the front door. She. Is. Pissed."

"KIBA INUZUKA GET YOUR ASS. IN. HERE. NOW!" yelled what I assumed to be Tsume's voice.

"Oh shit!" he jumped before turning to me, "I was _not _here you understand?"

"Erm, who are you again?" I answered him.

"Thanks," he said before darting away.

Not even two minutes later an angry looking woman walked by. She stopped and looked at me, "Have you seen my son?"

"N-no ma'am," I said not liking the fact she was growling.

"If you see him, tell him to come and see me. We need to have a chat about him telling his friends about everything that goes on. I swear he is as bad as his father. You are sick and I will not have my house invaded by those hooligans," she bit.

"Hooligans?" I asked.

"She means Deidara, Aiko, Hidan, Suigetsu..and pretty much everyone you live with," Saurka said, "Since you have been gone things have been crazy. I will fill you in while I draw some blood."

She told me about the new developments of everyone. I paid attention to what she said. Apparently everyone was getting lovey dovey or crazy. Most of it was just normal gossip but some things like Shikamaru, Itachi, Kakashi, Shikaku, Shizune, Inochi, and Kankuro, who was of Suna, were the Commanders that were chosen so far. The list was still incomplete, but she told me where everyone was going to be. I smiled to myself and just let things play out. After a few minutes I decided that she had given me enough info for the day. If she was going to talk, it should be over days.

"Interesting," I said, "Look I am tired but if you want me listen to you. Can it be tomorrow. There are a few people outside that are about to break down the door. Tsume is glaring them down."

"Oh," she said, "Sorry. I just thought you would want to be caught up on everything."

"Yeah, but this is all one big headache. I just found out I am missing a few weeks of my life and then you tell me about a war and then all that!" I told her, "This is a bit much to take in, that is all. I am sure everyone will tell me the same thing. Thanks Sakura, for everything."

"Sure," she smiled," If you want...I can tell all of them to leave you alone."

"Nah, they are band-aids," I laughed.

"Band-aids?" she asked.

"Yeah might as well get them taken off as quickly as possible, er yeah that sounded better in my head," I said, forcing myself to stumble over my words.

"You never change," she sighed, "Well that is good."

She opened the door and there standing was Yuki, Hinata and a score of others. Sakura said that only three at a time could come in since there were so many of them. A beautiful boy stepped into the room followed by Yuki and Hinata. Who ever this was, he was hot. Totally hot, and by the look, I could tell he was a Hyuga. Then I looked between him and Hinata, they looked similar. Was _that _Neji? OH hell yes! _Thank you Kami for a hot...boyfriend...be a boyfriend...hell let him be my husband! I don't give a shit, just let him be mine..._I thought while I shifted up into the bed.

I was pounced on and crushed by I think two or three bodies. Besides the weight, none of them were making skin contact, so I didn't have to worry about having images flow into me. I wasn't sure, but I could hear a slightly shrill voice in my ear, nearly deafening me, "Oh my god where have you been? Are you okay...how is your leg...oh you are here...and real."

"Yuki...crushing me," I said, felling the need for air.

Yuki got off of me and she was teary, "I am sorry, I just thought you wouldn't come back this time."

I scoffed, "Seriously, you really think that I wouldn't come back? Honestly."

"We were worried that is all," said Neji, "You really can't blame her, but Haruko did kidnap you once."

"Hm," I said in an agreeing tone, "Hey, Yuki. One more bone crushing hug?"

"Sure," she said pouncing me again.

There was no way in hell that I was going to pass up the opportunity to learn about myself. I wanted to know _exactly _what I had been doing here. Images flashed in me as I recalled everything she knew, everything from the time we arrived in Konoha, a few memories before hand, and what she knew about me. I was this blundering mess of energy that really couldn't make any good choices. I looked on and saw my life through her eyes, and wave after wave of emotion hit me. She was scared for me, I didn't have fear, she always worried about me and loved me. I bit back a sigh. I wasn't sure if it was happy, sad, or what. All I knew is that I wanted to stop touching her.

"Okay, snuggle moment over," I said recalling the _ridiculous_ vocabulary I had.

One thing is for sure that Nii-sama was keeping stuff from me. The stories he told me and the 'memories' this girl had were conflicting somewhat. He said he adopted us, but there was not a single memory of our childhood together with him in it. Then there was the attack, which if I hadn't of had control over my emotions, I would have jumped back. The masked man, it was an old mask of Nii-sama's, the same one I adopted. I would have to take it up with him.

After a final squeeze Yuki let go of me and giggled, "Alright. I will chew your ass out later about irresponsibility."

"Great," I said flatly, "_So _looking forward to it."

"Um," said Hinata.

"Oh god, Hinata, I am so sorry. You aren't forgotten. I am sure," I said acting all bent out of shape that I had forgotten her, "Come here, missed ya."

"Well that is nice, but.." she said struggling, "There was something weird that happened to me...I would like to talk to you about it."

"Oh, what happened? Did Naruto try and pull a move on you?" I said holding my fist in the air.

"No," she said, "But erm, others are waiting to get inside and see you. I will visit you tomorrow."

"Oh my god, bring eyeliner!" I told her, recalling an 'addiction' to this eyeliner stuff.

"I will," she smiled before her and Yuki left.

Neji stood there and looked at me, "At least this time you weren't in horrible condition..."

"Neji?" I asked tilting my head, "It is alright. I am fine...I swear."

"Don't," he said, "Right now all that matters it that you are home. So let us make this a happy moment. We can speak about this later, when there isn't a line waiting to see you."

"Okay," I said feeling a small pang in my chest. I had not felt this feeling before, or had I? I worried me that I was attached to someone I didn't remember.

Neji brushed my short hair behind my ear, "Cute look. What happened?"

"Erm, not sure. They could have shaved my head, but who knows," I shrugged before being surprised by a kiss.

With me not being mentally prepared for it, all his memories flooded my mind. It was pain, hope, frustration, determination, hard work, smugness, sadness, worry, love, and happiness. All in one. I couldn't sort the memories all at once and they were bled together. He even reacted, both of us jumped back.

"Kori!" he said, "Careful."

"N..." I fought with the memories still trying to be sorted, "N-neji..s-s-sorry."

"It is alright," he said, "I should not have..."

"No, the kiss was great," I said blushing and rubbing my temples, "I should have closed off my mind."

"Well sometimes.." he said but I couldn't hear him anymore...there were memories breaking through the surface.

**-Flashback-**

_"We found her," said Sakura, "Neji..Um. Go see where Lee is."_

_"You were with him last," I snapped...a feeling of dread creeping up on me._

_"R-Right," said Sakura, "Um...she is in bad shape. If it wasn't for her chakra.."_

_"Let me see her," I snapped, angry that Sakura was trying to keep me from a girl who I found myself caring over. _

_I went into the house she was in and stomped into her room, pushing past TenTen and Lee. They both had worried looks on their faces. That could not be good, and I saw why when I entered the door. There on the bed was a broken and bloody Kori. Holes ran up her arms and legs, there was not a place on her body that wasn't bruised, and her face wasn't recognizable. I felt angry and hurt. I wanted to trade places with her. I gently walked up to the body that was unconscious and touched her hand._

_"I..." I trailed off, "Oh Kami."_

_"Neji, I understand that she was a good friend," chimed in Gai Sensei._

_I wanted to punch him, but she wasn't anything more than a friend. Yet...there she was battered and broken, and I wanted those who did this to pay. More than that, I wanted to see her smile and hear her laugh. I was going to make sure she got to Konoha safely and that she would recover by any means. This girl was extraordinary..no KORI was extraordinary. Beyond that lost hope of an Academy Student, the clumsy, loud, obnoxious girl who I met that day. She proved to be kind, caring, never judged me, always listened even when it seemed ridiculous at the time..I wanted to protect her. _

_Neji? This is Neji's memory of when he found me...oh god._

**End Flashback**

Tears began to sting my eyes. Before I knew it, I had reached out and grabbed Neji's sleeve and was keeping him in place. I looked up at him and couldn't speak. I tried to tell him that I was alright, but this memory. It pained him, I could feel the fear behind it. He never wanted it to happen again. I let go, defeated with what to say.

"Kori," he said hugging me, "Are you alright?"

"I have memory loss. I saw the day you found me," I said looking up at him, "It...I lived it. Um, I think...sorry."

"Don't worry about it," he said, hand threading through my hair, "You already knew then. If you have memory loss. We will just have to see which ones you are missing."

"Yeah," I said swatting his hand out of my hair, "Alright, before this is mushy. Let the others through. I mean...um..god this is horrible. I will shut up now."

Neji laughed, "Do you want me to return?"

"Yeah," I said laying down sighing, "Now enter the circus."

Hidan and Aiko asked me everything about my injuries, Sasuke just told me a bit about what happened. Kisame, Miyuki, and Suigetsu were next. Suigetsu threatened me with a drowning if I scared him again and Miyuki was happy that I was home and informed me that she was now an official Konoha nin and was going into the war. Jugo, Itachi, and Shikamaru kinda chilled me down a bit after the first three were hyper. And the rest were a blur. When I was left alone, my head was swimming. It was a mistake to try and figure out my history. My head ached and I couldn't concentrate or at the very least sleep.

Not to soon after the sun set there was a knock on the door. Sakura let Hinata in and she brought some tea and my eyeliner. She laughed as she handed it to me.

"Hey Hinata," I said, "Ooh, what kind of tea is that?"

"Chamomile," she said, "I thought it might help. With everyone here, I figured you would have a headache."

"Are you sure you can't read minds?" I asked her teasingly.

"No," she said.

"So how is Naruto?" I asked.

"I don't know, he hasn't returned yet," she informed me, "So I wanted to talk."

"Yeah what about?" I asked her. As she made the tea and gave me a glass, we then chatted between sips.

"A few days ago, when you were still missing. I think I dreamed this, but.." she said pausing, "Starke was there in my back yard, wounded. It was after we returned from the mission at the Kage Summit, when I was incapacitated and my armor stolen...but that isn't important."

"Not important!" I said faking concern, "What happened?"

"Nothing, I was just knocked out and my armor stolen. Kiba was knocked out too. It was when Madara infiltrated the Summit and declared war," she said.

_I didn't declare war..Nii-sama said just to leave them be..What is going on?_

"Is that all? You weren't hurt were you?" I asked.

"No, just tied up. I didn't think Madara would let me live.." she said with a sigh of relief, "But..he did and he made sure I wasn't hurt. Which I find strange to begin with. Then a few days later Starke shows up injured. I went to ask him what was wrong and he snapped at me!"

"It may have been a bad dream," I tried to reassure her.

"No it was Starke," she said looking directly at me, "He said you were in trouble and needed help. Then he ran off."

"So he just told you I was in danger. Well that was nice of him," I told her, " Well I wish, he would have told you sooner. He was right." _I was in , I am still in danger. So Starke visited Hinata. The question is why. _

"Something on your mind?" asked Hinata snapping me out of thought.

"Nothing, just trying to find out about all the time that was lost," I said, being truthful for the first time, "You really don't know how much it feels like I have lost."

"Don't worry," she smiled, "Look besides the weird, you have friends who love you. We all know you love us, in your quirky way. Just let us do the saving this time. Kami knows that you have done enough."

"Yeah," I said, "Tomorrow I should be able to get out of here."

Hinata looked at me before getting up and grabbing the tea set, "I hope so. You were never one to actually stay where you were supposed to be."

There was another knock at the door, Hinata moved and opened the door. There stood Neji, dressed down for once. Some wave of nostalgia hit me, I wanted to smile, and laugh.

"What did I order a pajama party or something?" I asked.

"Or something," said Neji.

"Wait, your family is going to _let _you stay with _me_? I asked.

"They have been changed by you. I doubt they would care anymore," he smiled.

"Yep, and daddy is happy that you are home too," said Hinata, "Anyone who says he can't has to answer to father and _me._"

"Oh, shaking in my..erm...bed," I laughed.

Hinata left and Neji stayed for a while. He looked a bit out of sorts. I knew there would be tension, especially with the wave of memories. I just picked a spot on the wall and focused on it. I tried to remember everything that Nii-sama said:_Remember, they may treat you like a friend, but they all know the truth. Be careful of them. They will try and lie to you and make me look evil. _

I tried to repeat the words in my head. I remember the smiles and the times after Nii-sama found me, Neji saw me lost in thought and touched my shoulder. I jumped at the sudden movement and he backed off.

"I am sorry," he said.

"Don't worry about it, just jumpy. Sad thing is I don't know why, but it doesn't matter now. You are here and that is enough," I said, words just falling out, as if I had rehearsed them. My head was fuzzy but the headache wasn't as bad, since the tea, "I am just tired that is all. Trying day, ya know?"

"Trying for you, but...nothing. Sleep would be nice. Would you like me to stay here or leave?" he asked.

"Stay here," I said my body reaching out to him on its own, trying to remember something.

He sat down beside me on the bed and wrapped his arms around me. I could breathe him in and it was relaxing and intoxicating. Vanilla and mint. Calming and exciting, there was something else that I couldn't describe, but I wasn't complaining. My body reacted on its own and fell into a comfortable position and I snuggled closer, into his chest. His heartbeat soflty thumped against my back and I could feel the slow, deep breaths as the hot puffs of air danced in my hair, and his warmth relaxed me. Part of me felt regret, in my heart I knew that this was normal...well almost normal. My mind couldn't wrap around it but I already had the memories of myself through Neji's eyes. I had to fight the conflict. This boy honestly cared about me and I didn't sense that he lied, not that he could with the sudden brush. However, I was on a mission. That much was for sure.

I couldn't let this get to me. I had to move on and get this done for Nii-sama. I already had names, now all I needed to know is where they were. If there was anything else that Nii-sama needed of me, he would probably send Zetsu. There was also the message that I had to give to Kisame. I then tried to get some sleep, or attempt to. This time around it wasn't difficult. Neji, there was something about him that began to lull me to sleep.

* * *

**Alpenwolf: **Yeah it is, but as I said...it is a bit of foreshadowing. I believe I shall make some 'added' memories that I feel were left off, and change the whole bit about Gaara's showdown with his father and his father's telling of Gaara's mother and his uncle. I know, it was weird, but come on you know it fit...would you expect anything less? Yes, I figured you would say that. However that is only half the story that Gaara knows, we will see him struggle with himself after that because what he was told and now he has been given some new information coming from his mother...So his inner conflict will ensue. But...But I AM weird...I secretly stal- I mean I love all of you reviewers. Yes you saw that right..and you are welcome. I mean seriously your story is good, it isn't perfect but we are human, and especially since you are writing in English, which isn't your primary (first) language, it is good.

**gunitatsuhiko:** Lol, thank you thank you. Well I already have read, loved, and favorited three of your fics. I bow to you...and dammit I WANT ANOTHER CHAPPY...-cries- Now you have power over me. All you need to do is keep me happy with your fics and you can threaten me with no new chappy and I will cave...yes Bribery works wonders on me. No Madara isn't stable. There is another part to his side that we will see. I mean I won't give him a POV but I believe you will all wish for his SLOW demise after I finish writing out the next few chapters.

* * *

**River:** Alright, this chapter is a bit confusing...hence the name. There is what we know and what Kori forgot because of the drug. Now she also had a genjutsu placed on her, but that will come later. Ew, my mom is watching a movie about Leatherface...well the guy he spawned from.. kinda sicking atm because I am too tired to pay attention. His name is Ed...something. Any who...I hope you liked the chapter, and sorry for the 'random' whole thought thing.

Edit: Thanks Alpen for that mistake notice. I fixed it.


	43. Chapter 43: First Steps

**Konoha **

**Kori's POV**

I had woken up sometime in the morning, that much was for sure. The sun was a pale but warm, light filtering through the window that was opened. I stretched and found that I was alone in the bed, and now I was depressed. I didn't know what to think. Was it wrong of me to have jumped into something that I had _no _idea about...such as snuggling up to Neji in hopes that we were together. If we were not, then was it wrong? The relationships I should have had, were no longer there. Threads of friendship and fate where torn and most likely forever severed. It wasn't like I missed them, there was nothing to miss. The only things I knew about any of these people was the information I gathered about them yesterday.

Thankfully I had more control over what I did when I 'sneaked a peek'. If I had of blissfully and idiotically tried to sap memories away from everyone like a moron, I could have gave something about myself away as well. It didn't help that Nii-sama only taught me how to close off my mind and control how much information I got, not how to find specifics. Like yesterday, I could have very well re-lived, in some sense, everyone's lives. The only thing I could gain from looking into the past were the answers I needed in the present, but it was pointless if I lived at least six different lives. My power was already maturing to the point to where it was hard for me to distinguish my life from someone else's memory if I accidentally absorbed it. I found this out when I accidentally pounced on Zetsu and had the odd obsession with being buried in the ground all day. That and the munchies. Seriously! That thing must never get full, he was _always _hungry.

Thankfully Nii-sama was there to help me sort through things and find my way out of the weird world for a while, but I had to be extremely careful. There was no telling if this new development was progression or disaster waiting to happen. I had to wait on two things: Sakura, with the results of my blood work, and to get out of here so I could track down Yuki. She was my sister and she would know everything about me. I pondered this for a while.

My thoughts were cut short when 'speaking of the devil' came into play as Sakura entered the room. She had a small chart with everything that they had been searching for in her hands browsing through it. Her expression on her face told me she was trying to word bad news.._great._ I cleared my throat and looked her dead in the eye.

"Spill it," I snapped, "It isn't like this could get any worse."

"Yes," she paused," It can. You have severe brain damage, most of your long term memories were destroyed. Your brain compensated for the damage and used up your chakra and your healing kanji that was left over, or you had, and regenerated. However all those memories from the past three to five years is lost. You will never get them back."

"I-I," I struggled with the information, "Never.."

"I am sorry," she said softly, "If I had of known..."

"_I _didn't know," I told her, "Why I know you...your face...When did we meet?"

"Three years ago," she said, "Perhaps your memory of me goes beyond that. When you first arrived in Konoha, you showed remarkable skill at knowing everyone and their abilities. Perhaps your life before you came to Konoha.."

"Don't try and make sense of this," I told her, "What I know about my life before Konoha will come back. If I only forgot of that...I am sure you guys shall tell me eventually. Perhaps before I was in Konoha I studied you, or heard about you. I have no idea."

"Neither do we," she said, "The cause of your brain damage was isolated and turns out you were being poisoned by Domoic acid . Low doses, it looks like at first, but the content that we found in your system would have killed any man. Your body has built of immunities for this, perhaps your body's way of protecting itself was to lose your memory...to save your organs."

"So I sacrificed everything to save myself?" I wondered aloud before speaking to her,"Neji, does he know?"

"He.." she stopped.

"He does. How is he taking it?" I asked her, tears stinging my eyes.

"Not well I am afraid," she said, "He believes that he took advantage of you."

"But I remember!" I cried, "Or at least he does and I lived it...I...his memories are a part of me now..."

"Take it up with him," she said.

_How can all my memories be gone when I remembered who Starke was. They aren't gone...they can't be...I know they aren't missing, just locked down..._

"I will," I told her, "Is there anything else you have to say?"

"Well we can't detect any other abnormalities within your system other than the memory loss, but...when I dilated your eyes...they changed color. How far have you progressed with your color changing skills?" she asked me.

_The Sharringan..it showed itself...I bet. Not fully or she would be alarmed...she is hiding something. Proceed carefully._

"I can change colors of my hair, skin, eyes, and clothes for days at a time," I told her, "I found this out when hiding after I was injured. When my chakra ran out, it must have been when I came to Konoha. The tattoos must have kept me going. Perhaps..I don't know. Starke could have made them while I was doing god knows what and...then he saved me."

"I see," she said scribbling down information,"We can't give you any therapy since there isn't anything extremely wrong, mentally or physically. Emotionally, I would suggest you take therapy but that isn't my call. Look Kori, I am going to place you on rest, you will be able to go home for now. If there are any changes, any at all, tell me."

"Emotionally?" I repeated, "Mentally speaking I am damaged, the physical will heal...home sounds nice."

"Kori?" she asked, concerned.

"This is way out of my league to handle," I said looking at her,"However I am trying. If I seem off or distant in the next few days...Is there anyone who can watch me?"

"Several," she said,"Yuki made a list of all of us who could. We will help when we can with the war coming, but there my not be enough time."

"I will find the time," I said speaking partly about both my questions, and what she was talking about.

"Don't push yourself," she warned.

"My body remembers things...I promise that I will not try to do anything I am not capable of," I replied.

"I can tie you down and feed you morphine," she threatened.

"I can break your face before you do," I snapped back.

"Tsunade taught me," she huffed.

"I found out more on my own, she also taught me...if I recall. I remember showing ...well Neji remembered me showing him my stuff I learned. Chakra control," I said curling up my legs and resting my arms on them.

"Stubborn ass," she said tapping me on the head with the clipboard,"You aren't giving up until you find your lost history. It never bothered you before. Why should it now?"

"I just lost the best years of my life," I said, sighing at the end.

"I truly am sorry," she said hugging me, "If there was a way I could help..."

"There is," I told her, "All of you can help me. All of you have seen me before correct?"

"That is too dangerous," she said pulling away from me, out of arms reach,"It could jeopardize your health."

"And you want me to forget why I am fighting, what I am fighting for?" I yelled, "Everything I have know, loved, lived, lost, hurt, shared, all of it GONE!"

Emotion shook me and I could no longer keep up the mask I had placed up. My body was quivering under the stress that I placed on it. I wanted so desperately to remember. From the moment I woke up, I had lied. For once I wanted the truth...I wanted to know who I am...or was..anything. Any shred of information was the ultimate prize. Bad or good, I _had _to know. Nothing would stop me. Not even Sakura. I calmed myself down with deep breaths. I then stood up to meet her, looking down at her.

"If you will not help me then I will find someone who will," I said, "Stay out of my way Sakura."

"If you are not going to listen to a medical professional..." she said.

"I am one!" I interrupted her, "Last time I checked in people's minds. I was great at that, I was awesome actually. I got my med-nin license...I worked hard. Hell I even saved the life of Itachi, according to himself."

"Y-you!" she pointed at me, "You promised you would never do that."

"Shame I forgot," I said, anger rising, "Out of my way Sakura. I am only a threat if you make yourself one for me."

Before she could say anything I knocked her out. I flickered behind her and quickly struck the back of her head and caught her. I carefully tied her down and then, when it was finished, I took my hand and placed it on her forehead.

_Billboard Brow! __**Ino-pig!**_

_**If you leave I will scream.**__ Thank you Sakura__**.**_

_I promise to bring him back.__**Naruto!**_

_**Kori...**_

I had the information I was looking for. She had met me officially shortly after the Chunin Exams. She was my caregiver when I was tormented by Haruko. She even went to the trial with Lee for Neji. I took in all the info she knew about me. It wasn't much to go on, but it was something. She would be pissed if she found out that I did this to her, so when I finished watching, I untied her and pushed into her mind.

Inside there was a great tree, extending from it many branches. Some were bloomed out with petals, vibrant colored as well. I paid no mind, I looked at the tree and saw names carved into the branches. Running up, I found the small branch at the top with my name on it and moved through the memories. The recent blooms of what had happened I cut off. The bud would never bloom, she would never remember. I gently placed my hand on the branch and began speaking softy.

"Sakura, you informed me of my condition and I took it well, after comforting me you sent me on my way, after making sure I was okay. I am now at the Uchiha Compound looking for Yuki, who is taking care of me," I said, and watched as a bud began to bloom,"You signed me out and while looking over information, tripped over my bed, that I forgot to make up, and hit your head."

It was slow, and withered looking but I stayed long enough to watch it bloom. After the fake memory was set in place, I made my way down the tree. As I did so I could hear laughter, I stopped and hid in the canvas of the tree and looked down. On one of the lower branches was Sakura, hanging off a branch before she let go and landed on the ground. She looked up at the branch and smiled. I wouldn't have bothered, but something caught me. The branch was worn looking, and it began to intertwine with the one below it. My eyes scanned the branch and as they intertwined it would seem that the upper branch was supported by the lower branch. They eventually melded together at one point before breaking off again and spreading out. I could make a good guess at whom those branches belonged to.

I brought myself out before she saw me and found myself back at the Inuzuka Compound. I carefully set up Sakura to where it would appear she was lost in thought and tripped, knocking herself out. I forged her signature on the forms of release and left. I then made my way back to the Uchiha Compound. There I found the people who introduced themselves to me yesterday, the ones there right now were Aiko, Mari, and Itachi. They were sitting around a table and drinking tea in Itachi's living room. I knocked on the door.

"Kori!" said Mari, "Come in. So how did it go?"

"I have brain damage and won't get my memories back. Don't worry I am cool with it. Have you guys seen Yuki?" I asked.

"No," said Itachi getting up,"How much was lost?"

"Everything in the past two years...er three years. So I have no idea who you are, except you are my friends," I told Itachi.

"I am.." he started to apologize.

"Hey don't worry about it...Itachi," I said holding up my hand, "Yesterday I accidentally touched some of ya, and well...I can fill in the blanks."

"Accidentally?" he questioned.

"Well up until yesterday I didn't know I could read minds, and well now that I do. I mean it is really cool, just I can't control it...Neji helped me when I saw me explaining things to him and well. I think I am okay with it," I rambled.

"Okay, okay," said Aiko, "Shut it, you are giving _me _a headache."

"Sorry," I said blushing, "Just no skin contact for a while."

"Okay," said Aiko, "Anyways. I don't want to catch your crazy. I have enough of my own."

"Oh so that is how it is, I am contagious," I laughed, "So now that I am going to get back into the swing of things. Can I borrow your boyfriend? I need target practice."

"No," she said, "He hasn't royally pissed me off. He is mine..leave him alone."

"Alright," I sighed, "No poking the bear, or bear's girl will maul my face."

"Damn straight," she said.

"So..um..." said Mari, "If you need anything..."

"Nah, I got it covered. Though who are you and what do you do?" I asked.

"Mari, I am a...you told me once Facedancer Monk, though I have no idea what that means...anyway. I am dating Deidara, I do earth style, and.." she rambled.

"Stop!" I said falling on the floor, "Oh god...Earth Style...whoo..you and Dei must be really into the.."

"Oh for Kami's sake," said Itachi, "Do you ever have your mind out of the gutter."

"Hell no," I said, "Just ask Neji."

"I would rather not," he said, leaning away from me.

"Aww," I said stepping closer, "Is the weasel scarred I will scar him for life?"

"Nooo," he replied in the same manner I did, "The weasel is trying not to be forced into giving you tips on sex."

"Wait what?" I gasped, "Itachi has sex? With what? Wait...tips..what'cha know? Hold on I need paper for this."

"You can't be serious.." he sighed, "Not now."

"But..but...later?" I asked.

"Maybe, when you calm down," he said pinching the bridge of his nose, "Have you had your coffee today, scratch that _how much_ coffee have you had?"

"Coffee, what is that?" I asked.

Suddenly three shinobi were on the floor, not beliving what I just said. I was contemplating on my sanity...well their sanity and hoped that I wasn't going to be affected by it. Then the question of if I influenced them came to mind. Brushing it off, I helped all of them up, careful not to make skin contact.

"I will make some!" chimed Mari.

"Okay," I said, "I will wait. Yuki shouldn't be too far."

"No," said Itachi looking at the clock,"Dinner time is almost here, and it is unfortunately my turn to host the party."

"We have parties?" I asked.

"Just sit down before you hurt yourself," said Aiko, "So Itachi, what are we making?"

"I will look and see what we have," he said turning and going to the kitchen.

I sat there for a while before Mari came back with a cup of black liquid, she also had a small container of milk, and one for sugar. She handed all three of them to me and explained what they were for.

"Alright, black coffee is bitter, and you don't like that..or at least you never did before. Try it and see if it has changed. If not then you usually pour about three or four spoonfuls of sugar and then add the milk, stirring it..okay be careful you _always_ scald your tongue when you first sip the coffee," she explained.

I tried the black stuff and almost instantly spit it out, then I slowly added sugar and milk until it was just right. I liked this coffee stuff, I mean really liked it. Where was this when Nii-sama was teaching me. It would have cut out a lot of the grouchy in me. I downed the cup and looked at her, "Where can I get more of this?"

"In the kitchen," she smiled, "But Itachi and Aiko are in there. While they cook, it is best to avoid them."

"Are they together?" I asked.

Mari fell to the floor laughing, "No Itachi isn't dating anyone and Aiko is dating Hidan...you said earlier..."

"I thought her and Itachi were dating..." I said, "She never said Hidan, she said he."

"Oooh," she recalled,"You are right. Besides Hidan can't cook to save his life...that is why Aiko and Itachi are cooking. Kisame and Sasuke kinda suck too. Suigetsu, Jugo, Yuki, you, Sakura, and Miyuki can. I don't know about myself, never tried, and Neji or Deidara or Shikamaru. They are the only ones who come over, besides Hinata on occasion and I haven't seen her cook."

"How many people are eating?" I asked.

"You, me, Yuki, Itachi, Suigetsu, Jugo, Hidan, Aiko, Dei, Kisame, Sasuke, Sakura, and...Miyuki," she said.

"Jesus, we are..._they_ are feeding an army!" I gasped.

"So? We eat everything...and more than one of us cooks and the rest of us clean up," she told me, "Wow, you have forgotten everything. By the way you and Suigetsu fight like siblings and you and Dei...well you don't always get along. He is hard to deal with."

"I will keep that in mind," I said.

A couple hours later I was in the middle of a dinning room surrounded by strangers, well mostly strangers. Some of them I knew already such as Yuki, Aiko, Mari, Itachi, Shikamaru, and Neji. Everyone kept the conversations to themselves, speaking in small groups of two or three people. Yuki kept prodding me and asking me what the hell was up.

"Nothing," I told her, "Well nothing that can't be fixed."

"I doubt it, not if it is left up to you," she said.

Seriously how bad of a ninja was I...or person. I huffed, "Leave me alone, besides you should have found out already."

"Oh about your memory?" she said, "Yeah, but when has that stopped you. No I was asking about you and Neji. Jesus, the two of you haven't even looked at one another."

"Yuki...that boy over there is hot, so hot that if I even look at him, I will burst into flames," I said melodramatically, "Now you tell me, me and _that _are together...and I am going to be all cool with it?"

"Well then what about last night?" she asked.

"Yuki, leave her alone. Annoying sister card needs to be played slowly," said Shikamaru in my defense.

"Thank you," I smiled, "Now shut up before I force you to. I don't know if there is a me and Neji anymore...even if there was. It isn't like I can jump back into the grove. Last night...it shouldn't have happened, but I don't know...it was natural..I think."

"Well stop thinking and go talk to him," she whispered in my ear, "If you don't I will step in and force you to talk to one another. Lord knows you both need to sort things out. So what, you have a bit of memory loss...he can forgive that...though there isn't anything to forgive. All you two need to do is find the middle ground to work on. If he can accept change, as I believe he can, nothing bad can happen. You two are stronger together than apart."

"You..." _don't understand, I can't be with him, even if..._I thought, not finishing my words. Pausing, I took a bite of food and after swallowing I finished my answer, "Alright...you win."

"Good," she said, "I would hate to face a depressed Kori."

"Yeah," I said, keeping my tone as light as I could, "Must talk...Actually I have to speak with all of you. I want to piece together what has been missing."

"Just promise me," she said.

"Cross my heart," I reassured her, "I will. When I can."

"Okay," she said, "So after dinner, me and you talk. Just in case you are glum."

"Glum?" I repeated, "Well I wouldn't say glum." _Bound, determined, and nothing can stop me._

After dinner I watched as Neji left quickly and quietly while the rest of us sat down in the living room. Yuki had decided to turn my memory loss into a drinking game, to which I apparently would have agreed to. _I am a depraved lunatic, _I somberly thought, _and they _like _this? Kami thanks for the second chance..._I had hoped that this would have been a more pleasant experience, but right now things needed to be done. While they set up the party, I took the letter to Kisame as instructed. He looked at me and then at the scroll that I held out to him.

"So that is why you came back," he said, "I see. You do realize what this means?"

"I wasn't told any info about it, just to give it to you. Those are your orders, mine are different," I said cautiously, "If you need help then I will be glad to assist."

"Kid, this isn't something you can help me with," he informed me, "Just go back to the party and get your answers. This could have waited."

"No," I said quickly, "It couldn't. Nii-sama said to give this to you as soon as possible, well not in those words. However, I should give it to you. Before I find anything out. What if they lie to me and make me believe that what I am doing is wrong?"

"That is for _you_ to decide," he said, "If he is giving me this..then things are not going well. You have no idea what you have gotten into girl. Leave it at that. For now."

"Just like that?" I asked.

"Just like that," he replied, "Listen, this scroll should not be taken lightly. I can't open it until I have been given orders to do so. Until then, try not to get attached."

I looked at him with curiosity and he brushed me off before retiring to his room. I don't know what was on that scroll, but it wasn't anything pretty. However, I needed to pretend to be the wondering, blissfully ignorant, nutcase, and I headed back to the living room. On the way I was stopped by Itachi.

"What did you and Kisame talk about?" he inquired.

"Nothing, I was just hoping he might have some answers for me. He didn't," I lied.

"I see," he said before turning on his heel, "Well, everyone is waiting on you. Come sit down."

The game was called 'Truth or Dare, Shinobi Style', which apparently I invented. It was a game of either taking on a dare or speaking a truth about one's self. The dare could be any justu, hidden technique, or special ability we had, or the usual embarrassing and ridiculous things anyone could do. The truths were limited to what the person would divulge, and that is why the alcohol was there, for those old enough to drink it(1). Alcohol was a great motivator in loosening one's tongue. The only one's who were not able to drink were Suigetsu, Sakura, Jugo, Sasuke, and Shikamaru, since Neji left. Suigetsu didn't mind since he said it 'dried him out', Jugo was afraid of going into a rampage so he opted out, Sasuke and the others were content in watching the 'drunks', and Miyuki wanted non-alcoholic stuff because she wanted to make sure we didn't drink ourselves silly, though Itachi assured her.

"No one is getting drunk in my house, I do not want anything broken by any means," he said shooting a glare at Deidara.

"What?" said the blond shinobi,"That only happened one time when I was out with Sasori...and the shop survived...mostly."

"So, this alcohol...what kind is it?" I asked.

"Sake and rum(2)," said Yuki.

"I don't know which one," I said looking at both bottles.

"Rum," said everyone in unison.

"Okay..." I said choosing the rum.

I looked through my 'Wilting Rose' and ironically found one to detox my system of alcholo effects, possibly if I needed to pretend to be an entertainer or something like this. I activated it, careful not to release too much chakra, and waited for it to work. Though I was unsure if it would work since I wasn't intoxicated. I couldn't remember what it was designed for but it sounded like a good idea. Now all I had to do was to wait until everyone was drunk.

Three hours, and god knows how many shots later I had managed to 'touch' everyone and absorbed a few memories from them. Meanwhile, Yuki was dragging me up and around the room singing 'A Pirates Life', Deidara swore he would never drink again, Aiko watched in amazement as Hidan finished his fourth bottle, Itachi was glaring at his glass with a small blush on his face, Kisame had already passed out saying something about fishies, Jugo and Sasuke were outside helping Deidara with something, I wasn't sure what the rest were doing but my head was throbbing from the memories. It wouldn't have been so bad if they hadn't of kept _feeding _me the liquor, and it didn't help this stuff was delicious, and even though I didn't feel the alcohol, my stomach didn't like it and I was nauseous. After being swung around for the final time, I quickly rushed out of the house and joined Deidara in his sickness, with Miyuki making sure I didn't pass out, and Shikamaru beginning to carry Yuki home.

This was so _not _what I had planned. I wanted to kill the person who thought of this. I was not well and really didn't feel like 'faking' it right now, it was exhausting. Mari, who stopped drinking after he second shot, was sober enough to begin making food and kept periodically getting some crackers or some other type of starchy substance. After my round of starring at the ground, wishing I hadn't of drank so much, Miyuki helped me inside and began chewing out unconscious Yuki.

"Leaf...ur..alone," I said clinging to the wall, faking drunkenness, "Sssshee ooonly, wooo, wanna make me feeel, at home I guessh."

"Well you can't remember your alcohol tolerance," she started.

"Ish fine," I said, "Sho, I never got her to talksh."

"You are slurring your words together," said Shikamaru.

"Sho?" I said looking at him,"No reason that I shouldn't talksh to her."

I 'bumped' into them and grabbed a hold of Shikamaru, hiding the fact I was reading him, pretending I was holding onto Yuki. Perhaps it wasn't the best idea I had, because his memories were not fully recognizable, blurry, and colors were either brighter or duller. Shikamaru rolled his eyes and walked pasted me.

"All you had to do was ask," he said, "You didn't have to do that."

"Eh?" I said popping my head up.

"Your memories," he said, "You are curious about them. It wasn't hard to put together, but why try to hide it?"

I took him and my passed out sis outside. Well he was sharp, that was for sure. If I wanted to get away with my mission I would have to avoid Shikamaru. That or kill him, but that wasn't something I could do. At least right now. He walked, waiting for an answer.

"I have my reasons," I told him, "Truth is. I don't know who I am anymore. Only you guys have the answers and I can't trust you to say truthfully."

"Well that is understandable," he said,"Just be careful who you do that to, you may find out something you don't want to. That and it is wrong. You are looking into our memories, taking them, as I understand it. Now I am going to walk away, get _her _into bed, since she is playing opossum."

"Shut up," moaned Yuki, "I will hurt you."

"You poured your glasses, untouched, into Hidan's bottle," he said, "Now shall I put you down or just drop you?"

"Fine," she huffed and then unwound herself from Shikamaru, "Look Kori, I am worried about you."

"Oh come off it," I said, "I want to go to sleep."

"Oh _hell _no!" she snapped, "First you drop off the radar then show up forgetting everything...and...well this is out of the ordinary for us."

"Oh can this wait until morning," I cried, "I think the kanji just wore off."

"Wait you just used a kanji," said Yuki slowly, "That you _forgot_ how to use. Oh shit catch her."

At first I didn't know what was going on, but then I felt it. All of a sudden I got dizzy and then passed out.

* * *

1. The legal drinking age in Japan is 20, however I will bend the rules a little in the Naruto verse, since Lee does use the Drunken Fist and takes his 'medicine/elixer/whatever it is translated to'. Lee is 17 in Naruto Shippuden and is allowed to get into a bar, I am unsure of what age Japan lets people into the bar, but...anyway. I am lowering it to 18-19 for humor purposes.

2. Yes there is RUM...I love rum, and I am old enough to drink anyways...so yay RUM...arrrg...rum. Deal with it.

* * *

**Sukaretto Miyuki: **He wasn't sexercising her, he was cuddling her. Yeah it isn't but don't worry, we will see Kori again. I don't know, I am debating on Kisame's loyalty right now. I am glad that you liked the Gaara scenes. Yes Sexercise is a good word...yeah thanks...Madara is a great liar.

**Common Sense: **Thank you...yes, the world now knows...I am sorry your blunt comment, the name...couldn't help it. XD, don't get offended.

**Alpenwolf: **Yeah she is, it will be a slow transition. Yeah everyone does see something different, but right now I gotta slow down and make sure I cover everything. I fixed the error...sorry. Thanks, I am glad you loved that comment...yeah she has to find out what is right. Right now she has information, now she needs to work through it. Yeah, time...I know it is difficult for me not to say, 'you can have your cake and eat it too'. No you aren't predictable, I am just good like that. I think I prefer the term wierd.

**gunitatsuhiko: **Yesh, I hope you will remember that. Yes and no, she is back physically but she isn't mentally. You will just have to sit back and watch her deal with her issues.

* * *

**River: **Alright here is the first installment of her getting some of her memories back. Now remember she has to sort through them, and right now she has no idea her limits so we will get to see later the reprocussions of her actions...and some focus of her working through issues...mainly relationship stuff. **  
**


	44. Chapter 44:The Truth

**Flashback?**

_"But ," I sighed, "Look they will be looking for you too."_

_"Yes, that means you two should stay together...Nokohai watch over Sukai. They will be watching, what I want you to do is to stay in the mountains...close to the old path where the Great Shinobi used to take...the way will be overgrown and dangerous, but not as much as the main road. Here, I packed everything you need in your backpacks. Stay away from people...I love you both," he said hugging us both, "Run..and be safe..Look back when you need to."_

_**Later**_

_"Noko," I said sitting down the backpack, "We have been walking for hours. Can't we rest?"_

_"No Sukai," she said helping me up, "Too open. We don't know enough to defend ourselves."_

_"But dad...he said he would," I gulped._

_"Dad is gone, we both know they got him. The Guard, they never take prisoners, once they find out that he hid us...when we showed signs...come on. We can't think about this," she said trying not to cry._

_"How much farther?" I asked._

_"A day," she huffed, "Less if this path wasn't so deep. Look the map said that the thing called...What the hell do we need spices for?" _

_"Spices?" I asked, wondering aloud._

_"Sage," she said moving her hair out of her eyes, "Something about a lot of Sage...oh his writing says Sages...not Sage..erm...something about, oh never mind."_

_"Would they be alive after this long?" I asked._

_"I don't know," she said, "Dad believed no one found it. Remember it was hidden, the ones who did know are all gone...way dead and burred."_

_"Well, we can walk until it isn't possible, it would save time," I said._

_"Risking our health over," she started before we heard something in the bushes, "Screw it we are leaving."_

**End **

I woke up wishing that last night didn't happen. I wanted to roll over and die and then the crazy dream. That was a trip. So I now knew my real name, and one thing was for certain..I only had more questions. If losing my recent memories unlocked the ones I had..before..this should give me a good idea of where I should go. At least, what I should do. A knock on my door interrupted my thoughts, I looked up and saw Yuki.

"Noko," I whispered.

"Excuse me?" she said, "I think you mean cat..that is neko..not noko."

"Never mind," I shook my head.

"Here, for your head," she handed me a glass.

I drank the bitter liquid and wanted to wretch it all up, but through willpower I kept it down. A few moments later I felt a bit better but that was probably a mind over matter thing. I looked up at her smiling face and remembered her father running, we were running. This Guard, what was it? If the things we needed were from the past...we were from the future. The Sages, they lived, but how and why I had no idea. How far into the future we were from was a mystery, anywhere from a few years to a few decades. I was scarred, Yuki needed to know.

"After your head stops wishing it were rolling on the floor and you look for Aiko and Hidan, go see Neji," she said.

"You are asking me to go into the wolf den," I said sitting up rigid.

"Erm no, that would be Kiba's family," she laughed, "Though they are more like lions than anything else...don't ask."

"The trial, I know about it. Neji went through hell. I mean from what I have seen I wasn't a good girlfriend," I said scratching the back of my head.

"Are you serious?" she gasped, "You were awesome to him, everyone thought he was...well he thought he was horrible."

"No," I said, "He just doesn't know how to express emotions.."

"Okay you know everything about him, about you and him...and the problem is?" she asked raising an eyebrow.

"You are asking two totally different people," I told her, "Look I had a dream."

"What about?" she asked, "The War again?"

"No, about us..You are Nokohai Asshudo, and your father is dead. I am..your sister, adopted most likely. My name is Sukai, I don't know my last name...well I guess it would be Asshudo," I said, "Your father was a historian and he found something. It sent us here to stop something. I don't know if it is the war or what, but what happened in our past, happens in this future."

"You remembered?" she asked, "I thought I would be the one, but it was you. You were the one always looking ahead, keeping us together...and...I am glad that you remember but...anything else?"

"No, only about a weeks worth of stuff. Sages, old paths, scrolls about everyone here, then I guess we found what we were looking for," I said, "I will let you know if anything else happens."

"Thanks," she said, "So we knew everyone...so why did we forget?"

"Maybe to protect ourselves, something went wrong," I sighed.

"The cliff incident," she whispered, "The day me and you woke up in Konoha, we were found in the river...head trauma..then before then we were attacked by Madara...he chased us off a cliff. Anyway, I don't care if I am called Nokohai and you are Sukai...right now we are Yuki and Kori, the crazy sisters."

_No that isn't right..Nii-san would never. Was he trying to stop us from getting caught? No wait, that couldn't be Nii-sama, or could it?_

"Yuki we are from the future, quite a few years. I doubt Madara would be alive," I told her.

"Honey, Madara has been alive for quite a while at least a hundred years," she told me, "He has been around since the founding of Konoha, which was done with the help of Tsunade's grandfather, Hashirama Senju."

"And your point is?" I asked, "Look even if he is over a hundred, doubtful...then okay going out on a limb and saying that I believe you."

"What made you question that it wasn't Madara?" she asked, "Look maybe it wasn't exactly him, or maybe we did something and he came after us..or maybe.."

"This is a series of unfortunate events that will lead us to our demise...or maybe I am a flutter berry, don't ask, and you are queen of the Faye," I said right before I got smacked.

"Okay stop that," she hissed, "Getting cheeky will do you no good. Now get dressed."

"Alright," I huffed, getting out of bed, "Where are my clothes?"

"Closet," she said before leaving.

I got dressed and proceeded to try and think of all the ways out of the Uchiha Compound. This was a nuthouse in disguise and I wanted to get out, before Yuki or Noko..or whatever made me confront the one person I wanted to avoid. To my surprise, I wasn't given that option, by the time my head fit through my shirt I was not at the compound anymore. Blinking I looked around I knew this place, it was the Hyuga Compound.

"Bitch," I hissed,"Damn it."

My feet began moving, as I began to yell at them lowly to stop moving. Whatever crazy was happening to me, I didn't like it. After a few quick looks around me, I saw the puzzled looks of Hyuga members and realized I had to get this over with before I really went crazy. Sighing in defeat I just let my feet lead me to Neji's room. There I found him meditating. I entered the room and he cracked and eye open. I quickly closed the door and sat down.

"Sorry," I told him, "Shh. Look Yuki is making me do this and I know that things are awkward now...but um. Talk?"

"There is nothing to discuss," he said.

"Then why were you at dinner last night?," I informed him.

"I was invited by Shikamaru," he said.

"_And _he is dating Yuki," I said, "Besides..um the thing. Don't get me wrong..totally awesome. The only thing I regret is not really remembering you myself. I...know this is kinda freaky, but I want to remember you. From what I have seen.."

"What you saw shouldn't have happened," he said quickly.

"Jesus!" I said taken back, "Look I know you aren't happy that I am not the same Kori you know but I am trying. Sheesh, I think you would understand more.."

He placed his hands on me, "It isn't that I don't understand. You...you are distant but you are still the same. It isn't like you lost your memory at all. It amazes me that after everything you have been through.."

"Look," I said interrupting him, "No, Neji I am not the same girl you knew. I am much different. Far freakier than you can possibly imagine. I seriously do not know what is going on here, or why, nor do I care. For some god knows what reason, there is something about you that I can't... If it bothers you that I am distant, I mean I can...erm..try to take the high road and let go.."

I then found myself being hugged by Neji, "All I needed to hear is that you still want me beside you."

"I am serious," I said, "Until I know how I really feel. It is like I am being ripped in two. My body knows what the hell it is doing but I forgot everything..It hurts to know that I had something like you here, waiting. N..Neji I don't want you to get hurt." _Because if he knew, he would use you against me. I love you, still. I don't know who you are but I love you._

"What is really wrong?" he asked getting serious.

"Nothing," I said burring my face in his chest, one last time, "I..don't know what is wrong. Let me sort things out."_And do what I was sent here for._

"Alright," he said slowly, "But I am not giving up. If I can't convince you to stay.."

_You already have, _I thought, "I know. Give me a few days to work out crazy and sort...and I will come back and seriously talk."

I walked out of his room, and didn't look back. Silent tears filled my eyes because I was betraying him. Someone I saw in my mind and knew in my heart loved me, but if he knew about me now..He would have to kill me and I couldn't put him through that. I would rather things just stay awkward and distant. _Please Neji, don't try too hard._

**A Week Later**

Konoha was in an uproar. It was already decided that something was in Konoha. A few of the Commanders, who were replacements for the real ones were dead. Some strange illness had began to spread among the ranks of the officers and even Shikaku, Shikamaru, Inochi, and Ino had the strange illness. I had already been in and out of test rooms because they believed that I was the cause, at first. A few simple tests and I was safe, well they were right of course, but they couldn't peg anything on me. None of my chakra or anything about me were on them, other than I had contact with them.

I faked worried about everyone and even volunteered to help Sakura come up with a cure. Right now my targets were Shizune, Tsunade, Miyuki, and Sakura..well Tsunade was already at the battle field setting up, and I needed to get them to trust me enough to take me with them. If I could head to the field, all of the medical staff would be infected and I would get away clean. One simple touch and I could infect someone, just a little scratch..just enough to break the skin. Then I would heal thier skin over it..not using my chakra of course, a special little tattoo of Kabuto's. I didn't know why he would give it to me, but I was grateful. However there was more of my chakra being used with every time I used it. I could only fathom that the memory loss or the poison was accountable.

**Meanwhile**

**No POV**

Kabuto watched as the lines began to trace themselves across the parchment. He laughed silently to himself as Kori used her tattoo she was given by him. A shadow appeared over him and he turned to see Madara leering over at him.

"What are you up to?" he asked.

"Nothing, jusst preparing the Impure World Resurrection," hissed Kabuto.

"So who is the sacrifice?" asked Madara.

"Guess," he laughed.

"Fine, just make sure that it is done," said Madara, "At least she will be worth something."

"As you wish," said Kabuto returning to his work, "As long as she keeps using her chakra..and the seal isn't broken, she doesn't stand a chance. The seal mutates her chakra to leave a different signature but when she uses it, a portion of her chakra is sent here. This will sign the contract for the Shinigami to take her soul."

**Konoha**

**No POV**

Hidan watched Aiko interrogate the third shinobi in disguise. None of them were from any actual village, but none of them were good enough to make the new issue of the BINGO Book. She was frustrated and the screams of her victims were beautiful music to him. If he wouldn't break his neck, literally, he would join in on the fun. So he sighed, trying to leaned, none to comfortably against the wall.

The way her hips swayed, the deadly look in her eye, the way her hands nimbly caused the most wonderful pained moans out of her victims, her perfectly pouted lips in a wicked grin, and damn it all to hell if she wasn't causing blood to rush to his groin. Dammit, he couldn't concentrate and by the looks of it, she wasn't concentrating anymore either. Shifting uncomfortably, now that he realized his pants were uncomfortable, he watched her throw the scalpel into the wall. Grinning evilly, he walked as best he could over to his girlfriend.

"You are doing an excellent job fucking killing him," he informed her.

"Don't you dare," she threatened,"I am close."

"To what? Him flat lining on you and you have to bring Miyuki in here _another_ time?" he asked, "Come on we are leaving."

Hidan wasted no time in picking her up, throwing him over his shoulder, and then began walking out the door. He felt a sudden pain in his kidneys and his hip as he turned to look at her hands shoving senbon in his ass and back.

"Let me go," she hissed.

"No fucking way," he said pulling out the senbon, "Now me and you, room, or I can just rape you here."

"Rape?" she said looking up, her dark curls falling into her face, "Now, what did I do to get recruited for rape?"

"You were working and I was watching," he said,"Now I don't know how you do it, but your ass makes all the right moves when you walk and.."

"You are facinated with my ass, I get it," she laughed, "Alright let me get the blood off me."

"And I will get the handcuffs," he said setting her petite form down.

"Race you to the room," she said already beginning to strip.

"Damn," he mouthed as her shirt hit the ground, "I love you."

**Konoha**

**Days Later **

**Kori's POV**

I had been working, trying to find the cure. Apparently I had contracted it. Nausea, fatigue, chills, and the fever, though it was different with everyone. I wasn't sure what Kabuto cooked up when he made me that virus, but it was affecting me now, and I had no idea what it was either. There were a million things that it could be, but I had no idea where to start. I was tired and I still hadn't thought about anything that Neji had said. Though I had worked my mind and my fingers to the bone mixing up stuff. I had found a temporary fix, but it only seemed to slow down the illness. Whatever was happening to them, it was going to kill me as well. It was a risk I took when I told Nii-sama to send me, but I wasn't aware at how fast the illness was. Most of the Commanders were already sick, and some of them dying. Those who were strong enough, cleared out. Konoha was now a ground zero for one of the deadliest things I helped make. Half of the contagion I knew but the other half, the severity, strength, and durability was all Kabuto, I just help with its ability to spread and how to bump up the mutation ability.

It was happening all too fast, and I finished my mission. Successful. The war was close to beginning and I had wiped Konoha's strength twenty five percent. Not a lot compared to everyone, but with this, hundreds were sick. Neji stayed with me to help me and Yuki was busy with the war effort. I had heard that Naruto and the others were successful in training, but that would end soon.

As night crept closer I ventured back to my room and sat down. Neji had just began to get sick, and he tried to keep me from it but I could tell. So far the ones who fell ill that ranked as Commanders or were really strong were: myself, Neji, Shikaku, Shikamaru, Kisame, Itachi, Ino, Inochi, Deidara, Sakura, Sasuke, and a few others who held positions. Five percent of everyone who got ill were dead, and the number was climbing. I curled in bed and felt a pain in my skull, it grew more pronounced and intense as it began travling down my body to my shoulder. A voice filled my head as my shoulder felt like it was being ripped off.

_The Truth...unlocked...tired._

The memories of my life before I came to Konoha flooded my mind. Lands torn apart and people huddled together, clinging to the order. History told us of a world that shook and desecrated the land for years until our lord brought together the warring nations and ended the conflict. He was granted the Ultimate Power because of his selflessness and rose to power. To prevent farther war he destroyed the Shinobi Academies across the world and created a special force out of former shinobi who survived to keep the peace. One banner, one rule. That war was over a hundred and fifty years ago, everything before then was turned into Legend. Once a year there was a gathering held for those who were 'special' were given a chance to use their 'gifts' for the betterment of all. After they were found, no one saw them again.

Yuki's father was an Historian. He found out, along with his late wife that the special ability was the control of chakra. Later he found out about a 'blind man' keeping spare records in the old ruins of Konoha, Old Konoha, deep underground. After digging he found out that the Fourth Shinobi War did happen but at a high price. Someone brought back the dead as an army and slaughtered more than half of the population to quell any idea that they could fight back against him. My parents were killed for hiding me away, I was a descendant of none other than my friends Ino and Sai, after the War, everyone went into hiding and names were changed..my family was destroyed because of what I could do. Even when I was little the Clan's ability was shown in my early development.

I had a hard time grasping the teachings of the people and I couldn't pay attention in class, hearing things. Eventually I started finishing sentences and recalling my parents childhoods like I lived them. They hid me away and bound my chakra with an old Sealing Jutsu they got from Yuki's family. She was a descendant from the Kurama Clan, later changed to the Asshudo. They fled and kept their kekkei genkai a secret, sealing away their clans ability in front of the Hero of the War but in secret kept the bloodline power alive. It eventually laid dormant until Yuki was born, much like mine laid dormant until I was born.

Yuki and I grew up down the street together and our families were really close, so when my family was killed her dad took me in when I was twelve. I had been living with him ever since. When he discovered the old ruins and the real truth he hid us away and when he could no longer sent us to Mount Myōboku where it was lead to believe that the Sage Toads were still living. When we got there a toad greeted us and told us of a way to stop this. He trained us for years and when it was time for us to leave, we posed at photographers for a local company and lived until it was time for us to take down the Hero. However we were attacked by one of the Guard and thrown off a cliff. Before we hit the water something stopped us and we both woke up in Old Konoha with our memories gone.

_When the time is right your Guardian will show you the truth, save him. Only you can stop the Hero. Kami be with you._

Out of my shoulder a brilliant light erupted and a wolf landed in front of me. I knew who it was.

"Starke?" I asked aloud.

The wolf landed on its side and began laughing at me _Who else Pup? I had to go through Hell and back to get you that information. Thankfully Madara does not know about kept me hidden well young one. With your life from the past, what will you do? Stop the Hero or join him. Where you come from is peaceful and quiet. There is no war, Illness is of little concern and people are happy. I do not think that Yuki should know about this. The ones called Nokohai and Sukai are dead, they died when they fell to the cliff. Kori and Yuki were born. Who you chose is up to you. I am just a bloody messenger...hell of an inscription on that Sealing Jutsu in your head. Other than your past, you must break through the chains that you placed yourself in to save yourself._

"Huh?" I said laying down.

_You have had the cure all along. Think about it._

I rose up when it hit me,"Your kidding right?"

_I was not given humor._

"Only my sarcasm?" I said, wondering aloud mostly. Then I glared at him, "What the fuck? I mean if you were there the WHOLE fucking time then how come you weren't...were you affected by the drug?"

_No, I am not living..drugs to not work on me. I am part of you though. So...shut up. You asked me to do it before you were under the full effects...*Sigh* I give up._

"Okay explain to me what you are again?" I asked.

_I hate you...frustrating human. I just hope you are ready for this..._

He touched my head with his nose and there was a slight pain and then it was full force mind meltdown. By the time it was over both Starke and I were howling.

"Son of a.." I yelled.

_Fuck my world over!_

"Did you inherit my mouth and my _brilliant _ideas?" I cried, tears streaming down my face.

_This isn't normal, there is something blocking me. If I can't touch you then I can't sleep anymore. Thankfully you can give your chakra to me, anything you have recently painted...I can use as food._

"So what I paint you bunnies and you eat them?" I asked sarcastically.

_You can do that? Haven't done that before...I think I will have to try that._

"Not helping," I said standing up on shaky legs, "Alright to the lab!"

I took a step forward and fell face first into the floor. About that time Neji walked, well more like zombied in, and paniced when he found me on the floor.

"Kori!" he said in a coughing fit.

"Neji," I said picking myself off the floor, "Slow down hun, you are ill. Stress increases the...Sorry I had a memory pack in."

"Do you remember everything?" he asked, finally catching his breath.

"I remember my life before ol...no..not in the past few years but before I woke up in Konoha," I said, "I came here to stop someone. He is said to bring peace but he brought death, him and his minions. A lot of people died Neji...and Oh my god i have necrophilia!"

"Wait what?" he asked confused at my outburst.

"You are dead when I am born and...oh my god you are like three hundred!" I said in a panic.

"Woah," he said,"I am _not _three hundred...wait why three hundred?"

"Well I am kinda from there, in that time," I said shyly.

"Anything else you know?" he asked.

"Well yeah, I can cure everyone. It is a kinda like super flu on crack. Shouldn't be too hard, just need to narrow down the master strain. Like the head vampire, take it out and all the ones in the line go..sorry nerd moment," I blushed, "Oh and another thing...thanks for being here. I will need your help.."

I hugged him and both of us, with Starke in tow went to the medical facility and began working. I enlisted Shikamaru because he was a genius, hopefully that would help. After a few hours and wee into the morning we found out how long each of us had left if we were not cured. The virus feed off of chakra and then mutated based of the chakra that it lived. Those without chakra usually had three weeks, give or take and those with large amounts had only a few more weeks at most. We were running out of time. Over the next few days we recruited Shukaku, Ino, Sakura, and the rest of us who were well enough to begin working on it. Neji and I had a lot of time to talk during the hunt for the cure and it was nice. A good break for what we were up against.

I soon realized, either through spending time with him, or the now progressed delirium I had been having due to lack of sleep, I didn't want to leave Neji. I found out so much about these people and I didn't need to use my power, though it was wierd to work with my great-great-great-grandmother, beside me. Then I started thinking about other things, and eventually I got sick to my stomach. A few weeks ago, Ino and Sai came out and told everyone they were dating...I _so _could not tell them to get married and have plenty of kids or I will cease to exist, and then there was the whole quesiton of me being her that would cause that..So I laid down for a few hours, totally wierded out.

Neji wasn't too far behind me, everyone called it a night when I got sick. When he entered in the room I just looked at him.

"You know what, fuck it. You are sexy when you are sick...hell throw time and all that sciency crap out the window. For once...I want to do what I want! I want you," I said hugging him, "I am so fine with being like this. Though I have to tell you something...Ino is like my great, however many times, grandmother."

Neji looked at me, "Are you kidding me? That would explain alot."

"You are cool with that?" I asked.

"With you, nothing surprises me," he said.

I nervously laughed. Then a sudden knock came at the door, Kisame stepped through.

"I need to borrow Kori," he said.

I followed him down the hall and looked at him, "So what is up? Aren't feeling too under the weather?"

"I wasn't sick," he said, "The scroll contained the vaccine, one dose...What side are you on?"

"Constellation prize, Neji's," I shrugged before I got dizzy and held onto the wall for support.

"That is good enough for me," he said walking, "Follow me."

"Did you just seriously let people die just because I wasn't on a side?" I tried not to yell.

"No, those people were shadow clones," he said, "The virus actually only attacks people _with _chakra. Kabuto laid some traps and it would have taken you _months _or years to figure out. After you came and told me you were working for Kabuto and Madara, I should have killed you, but you have been a friend. I was willing to carry out his orders, but when he went off the radar...time changes things."

"Thanks," I said, "Wait if you aren't on Nii-sama's side...are you going to tell?"

"No, I suppose the genjutsu he placed on you has worn off," he said, "Or Starke broke through it, or may other things could have happened."

"I don't know, I still will follow out his orders...I am doing this for Neji, he can't die, but I can't give it to the rest of them," I said.

"Leave that to me," he said, "One of the more interesting things about me is that I keep secrets."

* * *

1. **Asshudo-** アッシュウッド - This is the 'True' Last name of Yuki and Kori. This family were once Archeologists looking up the 'past' and revealing it to the people, however everything must be looked over to make sure it isn't damaging. Yuki's father found the old ruins of Konoha and one survivor of the Fourth Shinobi War took records of every major battle and most of the Commanders and major characters of the War. Reason that I wanted this to be a last name, was because trees reach out to the sky.

**Nokohai-**broken down into no kohai, means assistant. That is the closest thing I can find to translate her [nick]name (other than her real nickname weasel which is Itachi), or it means 'Ashes' (noko hai) in English. I am going with Assistant for story purposes...but meh, making up or in this case translating a name to Yuki's True Name.

**Sukai ** means Sky, this is relevant to me and Kori's True Name. Alpen already knows the other, 'informal' way of saying 'sky' which is Sora...since I didn't want to cause confusion amoung people who read both our stories, so I changed it. I chose Sukai because it is relevant to me..like how I chose the names Asshudo and Nokohai.

2. Yes I thought it appropriate that Kori be decended from the two people who inspired me most when creating Kori's abilities...and since there is little info about he Kurama Clan, I felt it appropriate to give Yuki to thier clan.

Yes I made a Lost Boys reference, I can do that. Don't worry about me switching between Sukai (kori) and Nokohai(Yuki)...they will be Yuki and Kori...I will mention their "true names" again in later chapters, but that is all.

* * *

**Alpenwolf: **Well she is trying to do what is right, even if what she is doing is wrong. Yes it will be interesting. LOL, really? Yes it is hard to play drunk...but when people think you are an idiot, it makes it so much easier.

**gunitatsuhiko: **No down girl, down. No threesome...not in this story. I am hoping that you are imagining Hidan and Aiko putting Kori on a slab and torture her until she tells the the truth, and among the blood and gore, Hidan and Aiko are making out. Then after they tear Kori a new one, they have the sexy...OMG inspiration...hope you liked it. I threw you a bone...didn't smex it up too much but you get the idea...

* * *

**River: **Another chapter down and Kori has 'chosen'. Sorry we didn't see a lot of drama or angst with Kori, I kinda wanted to throw you through loops and plot twists...sorry about that. Hope you like the chapter.**  
**


	45. Chapter 45:Two Sides

**Kori's POV**

While getting the scroll one question, well several plagued my mind. Finally I thought it was time to voice them, "You said earlier, you should have killed me. Why didn't you?"

"Heh," Kisame laughed, "Perhaps it is because I used to work for him. You gave me a chance a few months back, why shouldn't I give you one?'

"So you are just returning a favor? Believing that I spared your life?" I half answered, half asked.

"There could be a million reasons. I will give you two. Yes you didn't kill me but you pack one hell of a punch when angry, but that isn't one of them. You gave the only person I have become relatively close to a life, his life again. Contrary to popular belief, Itach and I are friends. Quite close actually. The second reason is that you, in your blundering daily activities and just being around us, I guess I became attached. As a Konoha nin, ironic right, I should have killed you, but when you walked through those gates, you were already dead. Well as I see it, Kori, I don't know if we shall ever get her back, but I am giving you a chance," he told me.

"That was a mind warping explanation," I huffed, "You are right. I am not the same girl. How could I be?"

"That is up to you," he said retrieving the scroll, "Here. Save your friends."

"Are they my friends?" I asked looking him in the eye.

"What does your heart tell you?" he said placing his hand on my shoulder.

I closed my eyes for a moment to think about what he said, "I can trust them. They can't trust me though. Wait...you said I was already dead. What do you mean?"

"That mark on your arm," he pointed, "I have seen that once before. Orochimaru used to use it for sacrifices to his Impure Resurrection, it looks more intricate though."

"Kabuto," I mouthed, "He betrayed me...he may be after Nii-sama!"

"Wait, who just is Nii-sama?" he asked.

"Erm, you call him Tobi. He says Madara, I say Nii-sama," I shrugged, "He said he saved me from you people injecting me with stuff and keeping me under control.."

"Well I wouldn't say that.." said Kisame, "You brought all of us together. Gave us another chance I think. We worked with you for our own reasons, you gave us a common goal to work for."

"And what is that big and blue?" I said reading the scroll.

"To kill the man who was using us as pawns. We belived in peace at one point in time or another. He used that fact to puppeteer us into our deaths, or our would-be deaths if you had not intervened. You showed us all how we die, and well frankly mine sucked," he said, "Working for someone who doesn't even bat an eyelash when his comrades die. That is cruel. Yes I have killed my fellow shinobi before, but even _I _mourned them."

"Big Blue," I smiled, "You are awesome. So is there any way I can get rid of this thing?"

Before he could answer Itachi appeared behind me and had me in an arm bar, "I see."

"Okay what the fuck?" I yelled trying to turn my head so I could look him in the eye, "Itachi don't do this."

"Why?" he said, "You caused this whole thing. I heard everything."

"Did you hear when I said I was with Neji, or that I wanted to save him?" I asked.

"This thing could kill, and we all know what happens when you cross over into your darkness," said Itachi, now placing a blade at my throat.

"Itachi...I am dead anyway," I informed him, "Yeah I fucked up but please just drop the kunai before..._it _happens. Nii-sama trained me, so please..lower your weapon."

"What if I don't?" he asked.

"I will have to explain to Sasuke why I killed his brother," I said, feeling my eyes change color.

It happened in an instant. I blinked and not only had I escaped Itachi's grasp, I had took the kunai and was going to stab him in the heart. However I was stopped by a pair of teeth ripping into my arm and jerking me to the floor. Kisame had Itachi and was on the other side of the room. I looked up and saw Starke holding me. His eyes were sad and adament about not letting me go.

I sat there but rose up and met the gaze of Itachi, who was already using his Mangekyo Sharringan. I looked and laughed, "So are you blind yet?"

"No, Sakura, while you were away preformed and eye transplant. My eyesight is fine, I do not need the Sharringan to see you anymore. This is the Eternal Mangekyo," he said looking down at me, "Now why do you have the Sharringan."

"It is a reflection. He said I came from your clan. I know that is a lie, I remember my whole past. I just can't stop Itachi...I can't," I breathed.

"I _can,_" said Itachi, "Kotoamatsukami(1) would work.."

I felt tired for some reason and closed my eyes, when I opened them I realized I was now in my own mind. There inside, I looked around. The world was broken and the sky was a dark grey, filled with ominous clouds. A girl who looked just like me, yet different, was chained to the once great tree. The field it used to rest in was burned and the tree was nothing but a husk. There was a waterfall but the water was bloody and I could hear cries from it. A field off in the distance was blocked of with a high wall. I looked at myself and saw that my arms were blackened and my hands now had claws on them instead of normal hands and I could feel my form changed. I made my way across to the water and looked at my reflection. Thick chains hung from manacles on my wrists, instead of clothes I was just covered by old wrappings used for injuries, a black substance had stained my face, making lines down from my forehead to my jawline, and staining my lips, and instead of irises I was looking through eyeless sockets. I jumped back, afraid of what I saw, then suddenly I felt a tap on my shoulder, there stood Itachi.

"Time to repair the damage," he said, before he noticed a girl chained to a tree.

The girl looked up and pleaded,"Unchain me."

I stepped back tearing up, I almost choked on the words, "I don't want to be here anymore."

"Itachi, don't leave!" yelled the girl, "Help me!."

"Great," I huffed, "I have developed a split personality."

_Of sorts. That is what you were when you were in Konoha._

"Shit Starke!" I jumped realizing he was beside me.

_Don't get used to it._

The girl was vibrant, though she didn't have much color, her long hair hung past her shoulders, bright silver eyes looked ahead. Her hands and ankles were bleeding from her trying to break free of her bonds. Her pale skin almost glowed in the what light there was. She was dressed in a long white and silver kimono that had butterflies flying over a field of lilies on it.

_That girl is you. When you were being trained, _your _Nii-sama split you up. That is your Heart, of sorts. Only you can free her. Itachi's job was to get you here. Now we are leaving._

Itachi looked at Starke, "You must be joking."

_Afraid not. My job was keeping her alive. Every night that man tried to kill her. I was able to fend off the attacks but he caught me off guard and chained her to the tree. He destroyed what used to be here..Now we have to let those two talk. The puppet and my creator. Which one will make it out of here?_

"Eh?" I asked before three animals began to break the bindings and the girl was released.

"Oh hell yes!" she said, "Alright freak, time to annie up. You, me...lets do this!"

"That is Kori," sighed Itachi, "Good luck."

"But..." I said turning around to nothing, "Great."

I turned around just in time to avoid a swift kick to the face. I preformed a back flip to escape and when I landed on my haunches and quickly darted forward and thrust a palm forward. She saw the attack coming and swept her hand under mine and arched her arm around, deflecting my attack and leaving me open. Stepping forward, she took two fingers and landed a blow to my shoulder, a strange feeling hit me. It was chakra, but it wasn't like what the Hyuga did.

"Aww what is a matter?" she said, "Don't chicken out on me."

"Ow you bitch!" I said taking her hand and snapping the wrist before throwing her arm up and hitting her with my elbow.

As she was hit, she leaned back and thrust a palm forward and to the side, hitting me in the back and causing me to lurch forward. I quickly caught my balance and rolled forward to avoid another strike, this one would have landed on the back of my head, but I was quicker. I quickly swept my foot under her and knocked her off her feet...

**Outside Kori's Mind**

**No POV**

Itachi was kicked out of Kori's mind before he could preform the Kotoamatsukami. He bit his lip as he watched Starke unhinge his jaws from her arm and sit down next to the knocked out body of his friend. His body realxed and Kisame loosened his grip.

"Let me go, she isn't a threat," said Itachi, "Starke can handle her."

The wolf nodded and grabbed the scroll and handed it to Itachi. Itachi brushed the fur and felt Starke's voice.

_Now take that to Sakura, tell her that an enemy was in possession of it. She should be able to make the cure. For now, I will watch over her. If either side wins, I will have to kill her._

"What?" asked Itachi.

_Okay let me explain this. That man split Kori into two. Her past and knowledge, Black Kori who remembers everything before, and White Kori, the girl in white who knows the present and her Heart. They are one in the same, but with them split up...lets just say it isn't healthy._

"What would happen if one would win?" asked Itachi.

_I don't know. There aren't many people who have split personalities. Yuki doesn't have one because she wasn't affected by genjutsu before they hit the Well. The thing that brought them here. I don't know why or how they got here, it isn't my place to try and figure out. I am just the body guard of Kori..it is up to her to work things out. Besides you are wasting time here._

"After this vaccine is created, should we give her some?" Itachi asked one final time.

_Her illness isn't really an illness. Just exhaustion. When she comes out of it, she should be able to break the seal and render the contract useless. Even with her chakra, she would have to be present when the jutsu is cast. If we can get someone to break the seal while she is like this...it should help bring them together. That seal also splits her up, much like that Naruto boy and the Kyuubi. Although neither one of them are threatening if let out._

"Alright," said Itachi before leaving, "Kisame, bring the body."

Kisame hoisted Kori's body up and carried it with them. While walking down the hall Kisame asked his partner in crime the first question that came to mind, "What are you going to tell them?"

"What they need to hear," said Itachi, "The girl was an enemy, they don't have to know the name of the person that we got the scroll from. Just that we got it."

**Meanwhile...**

Gaara, B, and Naruto had just escaped the guards and were on their way to the battle field, ready to go and help thier friends. Though Gaara was against the idea of leaving the safety of the island, because that would be playing into Madara's hands, he still owed it to Naruto to trust him.

**Elsewhere**

Tsunade and the others were already prepared for the war, with the replacement Commanders, they had ordered their divisions to move out, with adjustments made by Yuki. Yuki had a vague memory of a dream where the enemy ambushed a division and anniahlated them from within, so she moved them to a different location and had Mifune's Fifth Division within reach of them at all times. Without some of the sensory nin that she had hoped to have, she was forced to thin them out amongst the groups to ensure that the Zetsu army would not ambush the Divisions. She also forewarned them about Zetsu's ability to travel underground and capture shinobi and the long-range, Fourth Division to create a small buffer zone that Zetsu's army would have to arc around if he wanted to attack the Allied forces, giving each Division a couple more minutes of time to prepare. She couldn't force an iron wall defense of any kind, if she hinted that she knew more about the enemies tactics in battle she would have to stratagize more, and three out of her first seven 'right off the bat' plans were a bit harsh if she had to use them.

To ensure the safety of all Medical staff, she used Kori's old paints and had each shinobi mark themselves with part of the paints, however it was nothing more than a pinprick, since there were about 80,000, but anything would be enough. With the help of the Logistical Support and Medical Division, the small amount of Kori's chakra was weaved in with Yuki's old tags she developed. It was enough that if they were grasped by Zetsu the tag would release a small shock wave of chakra, which did not belong to the person the tag and scramble the chakra pathway and signals. Hopefully this would confuse the enemy and those who were grabbed were to report the incident immediatly and the tag would rearrange itself automatically and the person would be required to hunt the imposter down.

**Opposing side**

Madara had arrived at the chosen location he knew that the Shinobi would meet their end soon, one way or another. He already ordered Zetsu to begin to distribute his minions. He just had to wait until Kabuto had revived the great shinobi of their time to assist him in the war. He was assured that the resurrected would not turn against him with the perfection of the jutsu. However, it would take some time for the justsu to be completed. It was decided that the bodies of the fallen that would no doubt be in the war itself would be brought back and used to make more resurrected and Zetsu's primary goal was to capture low ranked shinobi for sacrifices..

There would be a problem, the Impure Resurrection called for Kori to be present, that could easily be taken care of. However, he did not like the fact he had to leave Kabuto alone, even for a minute.

**Konoha**

**No POV**

Itachi had already delivered Sakura the cure to the virus that was spreading in Konoha. She had infromed him that it would take up to three days to make enough for everyone affected. She would have time, with everyone's assistance, to make enough for Shikaku and the others. They ended up laying Kori's body near her room, Starke had informed Neji of her current situation, leaving out the whole 'working for Madara' part. So while everyone worked, Starke watched over Kori, to see if she had any changes.

**Inside Kori's Mind**

**(Black) Kori's POV**

Both of us were bloody, each taking various hits from one another. This girl was wicked strong and could counter every jutsu I had. Starke did say that she was me, but I didn't want to die. Both of us were wearing down and I knew that if one of us were to fall in combat, it would die and I may not ever be 'whole' again. She would be the reason that I would have felt things when presented with familiar people, even though I truly didn't understand them. And the voice..those thoughts. I was a cold hearted killer. Not some blabbering idiot that this girl seemed to be. I tried to think of something that would work. Then it hit me, Starke's words, only I could free her.

It wasn't about winning or losing. Nii-sama trained me to think, forced me to only use my head, and the instant I began using my heart...and everything clicked into place. I used the last of my chakra to bind the girl back into place.

"Look if we don't stop, we are going to die," I told her, "You need keys right?"

"Oh shut up!" she huffed, "I know that _Nii-sama _of yours is the bad guy. If he is a villain so are you."

"Hun, it doesn't work that way," I told her, "Ok...if I were keys..where would I be?"

I looked around but found nothing, I couldn't keep her occupied for long and time was running out. I walked back up to her to ask a question and without notice I accidentally bumped into her chains. Looking down I wanted to slap myself. We were both chained up, mirror images, give or take the clothing and outer appearance. I sighed, and began fiddling with the manacles on her body.

"I am going to unbind you...please don't kill me..Um, if it is any good..Neji still loves and misses you. Everyone misses you anyway. They really don't care for me," I sighed, picking the lock.

"They don't?" she asked, "Why not..you are smart as hell..I am an idiot."

"I believe 'you are my idiot' phrase should be used. So truce..we both need to work together. I have to feel my way out and you have to think your way out. That or we charge at one another and hope we don't bounce off," I said dryly.

She snorted, "I like that last one. Maybe my head is harder."

"Moron," I sighed.

"Dork," she snapped.

"Blon...okay this is getting us nowhere!" I said finishing undoing her binds.

After she was free, she looked at me. Her body droped down into an offensive position, "So if I start another fight?"

"I will not hesitate to behead you and prance around using your blood as make-up," I replied.

"Damn, but my blood is pretty," she said thinking aloud.

"Ew, you are creepy," I shuddered.

"And you are normal! Seriously I can see why they don't like you. No outburst, always doing things on time and blech," she said walking over to the waterfall, "Um...I am thirsty."

"Ew, I would so not drink that water," I grimaced, "It is nasty."

"Says you," she said dragging me over to the edge, pushing me in, and hopping in herself.

I came out of the water, very tempted to drown her in it. Instead of the crying blood fest I saw, the water was clear around me. She was already swimming and laughing. As she did so, the water started to change back to what it used to be. Giving up any rational thought I decided to play along with the innocent mess that the girl was and soon we had the skies clear and all that was left to do was break down the wall.

"You can't go there," she said holding my hand and hugging me close.

I was seriously creeped out, "Dude, personal space."

"So? If I am you and you are me, it is a self hug..nothing bad will happen," she said.

"This is wrong..if someone were to see this they would say pervish stuff. This is why people come up with..." I said before stopping myself, "..personal boundries..it is a bit creepy."

"Hmm, if you say so," she said before she began to speed toward the wall, "Full force tackle!"

"I hope you are talking about a hug!" I said chasing after her.

"Cha, what else would I do?" she said bounding up and jumping.

I followed her and jumped into the air, holding out my arms and bracing for impact. Next thing I knew I was on the ground in the flowers. The wall was nothing more than an illusion, and that pissed me off. The girl looked at me and frowned.

"You are not supposed to be here," she whispered, holding me close _again _"He will be here to try and kill you..Starke is not here.."

"Oh god.." I huffed hugging her, "Look it is going to be alright. No monsters, other than me, no spooks, no men, though Neji is welcome, nothing will hurt you. Not while.."

**Kori's POV**

I was interrupted when my arm fell to my side. I looked everywhere for her and couldn't find her. Next thing I know I am falling to the ground in pain. The memories Sakura claimed I would never have again were rushing into my mind like a movie on fast forward. A small laugh danced around my brain as the scene re-arranged. Instead of a field a large forest was around me, the laughing waterfall was a normal water fall and I was standing before the Great Tree. On the base of the tree was a door, and I decided to go through it. Inside there was a wickedly decked out house, full on punk decor: blacks, pinks, reds, and other bold colors stuck out with the furniture. On the walls were pictures of everyone I knew and what I liked most about them..everyone was laughing, and there was not a single sad moment. I ran up the spiral staircase and everyone that I was close to had a room. When I looked into them, everyone had a theme: Sakura was a tomboyish style girls room decked out with weights for some odd reason, scrolls, healing equipment, and some girlish things here and there. Nauruto's was crazy, but neat with pictures of his achievements and his friends all over. The list went on and eventually I found myself in front of Neji's door.

I gulped and cracked the door into it..peeking my head it, it wasn't a room at all. It was the scene that I had of him when he visited me into the hospital,complete with the ridiculous unicorn, and another addition. Neji dressed in..._must close door. Hot._ Long free hair, losely fitting pants and shirtless. _Away from room._ Figuring it was time for me to leave, I kicked myself out of my mind.

When I finally woke up, everyone was there looking at me. I blinked and felt very over crowded so I huffed, "Losing oxygen. Look guys I am fine. Totally myself."

"Thank Kami," muttered Itachi.

"Good to have you back," said Kisame.

"What happened?" asked Sasuke.

"Oh just my whole history was given back,"I lied, "Had to sort through things."

"I need your help," informed Sakura.

"No problem," I said, winking at Kisame.

Kisame and Itachi laughed about it, leaving a few confused shinobi. Finally after a day and a half, we had enough vaccine for most everyone. Itachi and the rest took the vaccine and within a day they were already feeling better. Starke, bless him, helped a lot using his 'life force' to help me compensate for my missing chakra and summoned a few paint people to help. After that, he went back inside my head to rest. With everyone together, we headed out to the battle field as the much needed reinforcements. (2) We sped toward the battle field, in full force.

* * *

1.**Kotoamatsukami** is the ultimate genjutsu granted by Shisui Uchiha's Mangekyō Sharingan. The technique itself allows the user to enter the opponent's mind and manipulate them by giving them false experiences, making it seem as if they were doing things of their own free will. It is regarded as a genjutsu of the highest class, due to the victim being entirely unaware that they are being manipulated.

Since both Itachi and Sasuke have the eyes, then no Madara didn't use this technique on Kori. He used what I will call and **unamed Genjutsu** on her to manipulate her. It would require contact with her, and since she can enter people's minds, one shock with a Sharringan and he would have access to Kori's mind. So yeah, he rearranged, built barriers, and split Kori up while she was sleeping. Just to eliminate a LOT of confusion, it is a layered genjustsu..Confusing I know, but deal with it. However, the real quesiton is, has Kori beat it (broke it)?

Yeah yeah, her split personalities, well being split in two, a good scapegoat if I do say so myself. To make it easier on you guys, think Black Kori as her mind, nothing but information...now think White Kori as her heart, knowing the difference between good and 'evil'. Hope that helps. Eh, though I must stop doing this to you guys. This will get too 'Mid-day Drama' for me. So this should be the last time I do the 'drama plot twist' on you. Don't worry things shall be 'normal' soon.

2. All preliminary battles will have not happened due to most Akatsuki members now fighting for Konoha. Right now they are assumed to be clamoring together. I will cover most of what will have happened in the war, skipping through it as I see fit.

* * *

**Alpenwolf: **Yeah the sudden reappearance of Starke. Sorry about the whole curse thing, he was kinda aggravated about being trapped so long in one place and for the 'fuck my life over'..you have to realize that was an extreme amount of pain...usually he won't curse though. Emergency cursing only for Starke. Yeah I know, but things will sort out over time. It is explained in the beginning of the chapter, I hope it works. Meh, it really doesn't matter, nor is there a 'better' way for finding names for people. Yes you are correct about the meaning being significant to us authors.

**gunitatsuhiko: **Yes, yes, I am awesome. She gets her ass kicked here, and she will later on. Trust me. Things will sort themselves out for the better. So I guess you liked the 'bone' I gave you. Lol, I figured you would. Ooh, what song are you headbanging to? Well did you headbang to in this case.

* * *

**River: **I apologize for the shortness of the chapter. I just didn't want to start something and end it halfway through because the chapter was too long. So this should be Kori having the sense beat into her...if it makes any sense to you guys. Kori is back...for now...or permentaly...lol. I think that question I am going to let sit there for a while before I answer it. So...yeah. So this is now the Fourth Shinobi War...lol. Lets see what chaos everyone can cause.**  
**


	46. Chapter 46: War

**A/N: **Alright kids, this is practically a paraphrased summery of the Fourth Shinobi World War, with some variations due to Kori's/ Yuki's influence. Some characters like Deidara, Itachi, Kazuki, and Nagato will not be fighting against Konoha. Dei and Itachi are on Konoha's side...Kazuku's body was incerated...so I am not putting him in this. I won't brink up another one of the summons yet...and you will have to read what happened to Nagato, since we haven't seen him in a while. You can skim over it if you want to and just read the bits about Kori/Yuki and gang I wrote. Hope you like.

* * *

**War Front Land of Hot Water**

**Suprise Attack Division**

**No POV**

Kankuro, Sai, Ittan, Kiri, Omoi, Tango, and Zaji set up the preparations soon after landing. Chūkichi, Sasori, Shin were already on thier way and ended up running into the Allied Forces. Sasori began to use the former members of the Infiltration and Reconnaissance Party, that was sent to spy on Kabuto prior to the war, as puppets to trap the others into believing their allies were in need of assistance. Armed with poisons given to him by Madara, to compensate for lacking the explosives that Deidara had.

As Muta walked out of the bushes Zaji rushed up to help his injured friend but as he drew in closer, Muta attacked him with a kunai and cut deep into Zaji's arm before he could escape. The toxin worked quickly and effectively paralyzing Zaji, for easy retrieval by Zetsu later. Kankuro and the other's rushed to Zaji's defense as Sasori used his puppet mastery skills to pit allies against one another. Omoi used the opportunity to hide among the brush, waiting for the opportunity to free his friends while Kankuro faced off against Sasori. Meanwhile, Shin jumped from his ambush spot to deliver a fatal blow to Kankuro, but was stopped by his 'younger brother' Sai.

Sai felt the crunch of bones breaking as Shin's neck snapped into multiple shards from the blow and the landing. Sai, happy with his attack, rose up to face Sasori, but was dismayed to find that Shin had not only not died, but was now raising up to face off once again. The two brothers were locked in combat once more.

At the same time Kankuro was having his own problems with Sasori. The puppet master was blocking and attacking nearly at the same time, in such amazing succession it was impossible for anyone to attack him. Just as Kankuro missed his seventh attack against Sasori, Sasori used the incapacitated form of Toukuma Hyuga to block the attack while he used Muta's body to attack Kankuro's opening. Just as the blow was about to strike, Omoi jumped out of his location and cut the chakra threads that bound thier allies to Sasori. The bodies dropped to the ground as the once thought dead, formerly controlled, began to rouse.

About as quickly as Omoi cut the threads of Saisori, Kankuro used quick thinking and skill to attach his threads to the puppet master, rendering him in able to reattach them to the men he once controlled for the time being. Sasori complimented Kankuro on his skills as a puppet master as well before he was ambushed by the formerly incapacitated members of the Infiltration and Reconnaissance Party, Toukuma and Ranka delivered blows strong enough to him to send him flying into the clutches of Kankuro and his puppets. Impressed by this, Sasori complimented on Kakuro's usage of his old designs and realized that he made the mistake of immortalizing himself as a puppet and should have just left his name immortalized from his great work.

While Kankuro watched as Sasori's soul dispersed and left a body of another shinobi, after giving Kankuro the Mother and Father puppets, he then turned to look for Chukichi, who was not there. He then called his attention to Sai, who was currently occupied by Shin. Shin was lamenting on the fact he was forced to fight his 'brother' and hated that he was being controlled. In the midst of the battle, Sai's picture book fell out of his pouch and was opened to the final page, where Sai had completed his work of both of them. Looking down Shin was stunned and overjoyed that his 'little brother' pursued his hobby and became and artist. With that his soul began to rest and informed them of how they can defeat the Immortals.

"When the soul finds peace, we can rest," were the final words of Shin to Sai.

As they defeated the enemy Kiri was not far behind, ready to heal the injuries of those who were forced to fight under the control of Sasori...

**Outside the Battle Field**

**No POV**

Gaara, B, and Naruto arrived nearby the Allied Shinobi Forces Base. They were stopped by Tsunade, Yuki, and A. Yuki had already convinced A and Tsunade that they should fight or the war would long be over due to the fact of Naruto's sensing ability greatly helping out everyone and sorting out the Zetsu clones of everyone. As he landed he was ready to face off against them.

"What took you so long?" asked Yuki.

"What?" said Naruto in surprise.

"There is hell going on out there and you are fashionably late," she laughed, "Look, love to chat but erm. Lets keep this short, simple, and quick. Just avoid Zetsu and Madara as long as you can. We don't know everything about them, remember that."

"Where is Kori?" asked Gaara.

"I am sure she is around," said Yuki, "There was a problem that needed her attention and she was detained."

"What are you not telling us?" asked Naruto.

"Leave it," warned Yuki, "You really don't want to know, and I _really _don't want to think about it. Now go...people are waiting."

"By the way, why is Mari sitting over there?" asked Naruto pointing at Mari.

"Her ability to control golems and her mastery over Earth Release allows her to detect seismic activity," answered Tsunade, "Now get your ass out there before I kick you to the field."

"Fine Granny," huffed Naruto before all three of them departed with orders.

**Nearby**

**Kori's POV**

We had been full scale bum rushing it the entire way, no sleep and just booking it. Thank god everyone was given a quick zap lesson, courtesy of me, of how to use chakra to enhance the speed. We were almost there, hopefully nothing had happened yet.

A few hours later we landed in the middle of camp..literally. I used my chakra to help boost everyone a final time before literally skidding to a stop and crashing into Yuki.

"Yos," I breathed.

I was knocked off of a now pissed Yuki, "What the hell are you doing here?"

"I cured, I came, time to kick ass," I replied, "Now mushy bunny hug!"

I lept into her arms and waited for the full rampage of Yuki I sorely missed. Instead she only hugged me and ruffled my short hair, "I was wondering when you would be back."

"Had some things to sort out," I laughed, "So reinforcements?"

"Oh thank Kami!" said Yuki, leaving my grasp and tackle hugging Shikaku, "Brilliance."

"I am right here," joked Shikamaru.

"Shut up," she said, "Anyway, I do have places for all of you. Inochi and Shikaku stay here, Kisame and Neji, go to the Third Division, they are currently at the Land of Lightning Peninsula. Itachi and Sasuke, you are with me and Kori, Deidara, meet up with Kankuro's group, Shikamaru, go to Division Four and tell Asuma of your arrival, Sakura go to the Third Division, and Ino you will meed up with Mifune's Division."

"Wow, you had this thought out," I giggled.

"No thanks to you. So let's move it!" she said before handing some papers to Shikaku, "You will need these and I am so gone."

After that, we darted off in the direction of Naruto, while Yuki explained that we were to be the three jinchuriki's body guards. I wanted to hit her, why of all things didn't she wait a minute. Of course I couldn't blame her because she really didn't expect us to be here so soon. I just grumbled as I followed her.

**Allied Shinobi Forces**

**Land of Frost**

**No POV**

With the forewarning of Yuki before the battle Kitsuchi and Kurosutchi were already using Earch Release:Opening Earth Rising Excavation to unearth Zetsu's army while the Allied Forces began to pick them off as they could. Chōza Akimichi, Atsui, Hiashi Hyūga, Samui, Tenten, and Suigetsu were doing thier best to kill off the Army that was attacking from the sea. However the sheer number of Zetstu was proving too much for the Forces, and it did not help with the presence of The Gold and Silver brothers, wielding four out of the five Treasured Tools of the Sage of the Six Paths. Fist Division was forced back taking casualties as they did thier best to hold those two at bay.

They quickly sent intel back to the main camp and when the Raikage heard the news, he quickly retrieved the last of the Tools, which was the Kohaku no Jōhei, and sent it to the field to help Seal the brothers away for good, along with orders for reinforcements to be sent to back up the First Division. Meanwhile on the battle field, a ghost of Hiashi's past was haunting him. The desecrated spirit of his beloved brother was attacking him relentlessly. The ressurected form of Dan was seen conflicting with Choza Amichiki and Asuma, clearly holding his own against both of them and could only stopped by the use of a barrier to prevent him from using his Spirit Transformation Technique. They eventually were able to seal Dan in the barrier, the Four Violet Flames Battle Encampment, to prevent him from using his Spirit Transformation , with the help of Choji stopped and captured Hizashi before he could do any real damage. Eventually they even captured the Gold and Silver brothers in the Kohaku no Johei.

**On the Battlefield**

**Kori's POV**

We had finally managed to catch up with Naruto, B, and Gaara. With Yuki's instruction he sent his shadow clones amongst the Divisions to help ease the tension and keep Zetsu from totally destroying morale and killing off shinobi. I was more focused on what I was going to do once Kabuto went to retrieve me. It would only be a matter of time, whatever he needed my chakra for, it wasn't a good thing. Thankfully Itachi and Kisame weren't talking about my intricate tattoo that I got, but I doubt that was what was on thier mind at the moment. Most everyone wanted to do the same thing, kill Madara, Tobi, Nii-sama, whatever he was called.

I had heard from Naruto that his clones had effectivly been used to kill off the imposters that Zetsu, and even saved a few lives himself because of it.

**Land of Hot Water **

**No POV**

Hanzo, Kimimari, Chukichi, and Ibuse with the assistance of the Zetsu Army were engaged with Fifth Division, right after the Akatsuki had paralyzed most of Kankuro's division. Mifune was clashing with Hanzo alone, knowing he was the biggest threat, while Deidara was engaging Ibuse. Deidara was using his hands to quickly manipulate many miniature explosives that he was aiming at the mouth of the salamander. To his suprise, the Salamander did not seem to notice that he was swallowing explosives, but it then hit Deidara that if he activated the explosives the toxin could contaminate the whole area. He bit his lip, this _brilliant_ idea he was going to blame on spending too much time with Kori. However, the arrival of Chiyo proved to be extremely useful. She told everyone that the salamander had to wait five minutes before the posion could be used again.

As soon as Hanzo ordered Ibuse to go underground for safty, Deidara only smiled. There was about to be a rather large crater, but the collapse of the ground over the salamander would help filter the poison out and it would hinder the Zetsu army if they went through it..Deidara waited until the Salamander was not insight and detonated the explosives. The ground swelled with the explosion but it did not seem to crack the exterior layer of the earth so they Allied forces would be safe for now, but he then ordered everyone to clear the area while Hanzo faced off against Mifune. After a long battle, eventually Mifune used reasoning to cause Hanzo to stab himself and that allowed the sealing team to preform their work swiftly before they cleared the potentially dangerous area. With that the only problem was Kimimaro to worry about.

**North-western coast of the Land of Lightning**

**Allied Shinobi Forces**

**No POV**

Things seemed to be looking up as the Divisions finished off the 'generals' of the army and only had to deal with the Zetsu Army, which was becoming an increasing problem but manageable, when Tobi arrived on the scene with the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path that knocked out both Choji and Choza and killed many of the shinobi with its energy blasts. Tobi was after one thing, the jar that contained the Gold and Silver brothers, as a means to find a replacement for the Kyuubi's Chakra, which both of them had. When Tobi came into posession of the jar, he disappeared as quickly as he appeared, and left the Zetsu Army to finish off the rest of the forces. However with him gone and the reinforcements the Allied Forces quickly turned the tied and thined out the number of Zetsu that were travling underground and as the sun set, they got what rest, sending in the reports of the casualties and injuries that they had.

**Allied Shinobi Forces Base**

**No POV**

Tsunade looked over the total, from what Yuki reported it would seem that they killed off half of the Zetsu Army, plus all the 'genrals' of the resurrected shinobi, but at the cost of 20,000 of their own soldiers. She sighed as she prayed that this war would be over soon.

As night came to the battle field, Sakura and Chiyo returned to help with the injured, and with the help of Naruto's clone being close by, they had little worry about a Zetsu clone. Tsunade sat there in her chair pondering what to do, suddenly a voice interrupted her thoughts.

"I am sure now would be a good time to help," said a familiar voice.

"Not many people realize you are still alive, I want to keep that just as is," replied Tsunade, "If I can't trust Yuki to pull through I will send you. Right now you are needed here to provide survalliance and your ability to see what your other Paths see is quite useful."

"I see," said Nagato, "Those kids are facing a Rinneagan user."

"Naruto faced you," she said, "Look Jiraiya said you are needed here, I do not want to argue."

"Well then Kohan and I will be waiting for your orders if you need us," he replied, "Besides, your therapy sessions have helped(1), I wonder how you were able to do it."

"It wasn't me, that was Yuki's decision," replied Tsunade.

_Please let those two know what they are doing before I have to use the trump card. Madara doesn't realize that Nagato survived thanks to Kori.._thought Tsunade as she worked with Shikaku and Shizune to manage healing everyone and regrouping for the next day.

* * *

1. therapy sessions would be Nagato being given chakra slowly so they don't over load his systems. Right now he resembes his young appearance instead of the old appearance that we see him when he attacks Konoha. This happened while Kori was off and away from Konoha..so yeah..Using his Petra Path ability, he now decent looking and pretty damn strong.

**gunitatsuhiko: **Really I am glad that you missed her. Oh come on, I had to make Sakura the chatter box...Ino wasn't around atm..in my mind..Thanks for the excellent comment. I apologize that this chapter was so short but I am fixing to have to literally make shit up as a go..Yes..Madara's ass will be kicked. Hmm, what is my theme song(s) for this week? This is Halloween, Marilyn Manson Cover...and Spin Me Right Round Manson's Cover.

* * *

**River: **Alright here are two chapters in such short notice. That is why this one is criminally short. I am sorry. I just hope you liked the tweaking that I did to it. It was kinda difficult to do some of it because some of the main 'generals' for the Akatsuki are not dead, therefore they could not be used, so I had to make some adjustments.


	47. Chapter 47:General Killing

**A/N: **There are going to be a lot of thoughts going on instead of being vocal. I will tell you who is speaking to keep from confusion, and this helps me sort things out, not all will be used in this chapter though:

_Kori_

_Starke_

_**Yuki**_

:Sasuke:

**Naruto**

_**:Itachi:**_

Gaara

_:Killer B:_

On another note. Since B, Gaara, and Naruto are Jinchuriki we get to hear the thoughts of their Tailed Beasts eventually...this should prove humorous.

* * *

**Land of Lightning**

**Jinchuriki Guard**

**Kori's POV**

While on our way to the field, we ran into Zetsu. Naruto quickly pointed out the deception and the Zetsu Army never stood a chance. Some were scorched, crunched, fried, drowned, or just blasted into oblivion. Our team was dangerous. Since I knew I was from the Yamanaka Clan, I could use telepathy but not in the same range as Inochi could, so for good measure I learned how to do so from him by bumping into him and stealing the knowledge. If it wasn't for a good cause I would have asked but Yuki kinda had us get up and go. The only problem is that I had to focus on getting my chakra levels up, so most of the tattoos I had used on scrolls were devoured by Starke until he was at full force and then I had the rest.

_So what now Naruto? How many Zetsu have you killed?_

**Do you seriously want me to keep count?**

_**Oh shut up..look unless you have something really important to say..keep your thoughts to yourself.**_

_But my thoughts are...oh...that was hot..._

_:__**My mind needs a bath now...ew.:**_

:I know you need practice Kori, but imagining what you want to do to...wait who was that?:

_I don't know..looked kinda like Neji...Yum..._

_**Oh cut it out...think CHASTE thoughts...please. You may not know what WE can see from YOUR head.**_

_Fine..._

**I don't mind..what ever helps.**

_See even Naruto think that the mental image was hot...wait that was a GUY...Naruto are you alright?_

**Not Naruto. This is Kyubi. Naruto is currently focusing on keeping his clones alive. While he multi-tasks, I will hear the thoughts.**

_Wait...so if you are speaking...and hey...are you a girl or a guy?_

**Technically neither. Tailed beasts don't have a sexual gender like you humans. We just end up thinking like our Jinchuriki. My last prison and the one before were female. I get used to it.**

_Sweet an open pervert...Kyubi Care Bear...me and you will get along._

**I can kill you, you know that right?**

_I can make you think you are a cute fluffy animal that needs cuddles and hugs constantly._

**Are you sure she isn't evil?**

About that time everyone thought, "Yes. That is just Kori."

I was never so proud of myself to make the Kyubi cringe..also in the recesses of our minds I could hear Hibachi, or feel him, shaking his head at us and sighing and Shukaku was laughing and goading on Kyubi on every once in a while.

After a while we hit the southern edge of the Land of Lightning where the Fourth Division, Onoki, a Naruto clone, which went ahead of us, and the Akatsuki who consisted of Second Mizukage, Third Raikage, Fourth Kazekage, and a Giant Clam were fighting. Everyone jumped into the fray as we tried to assist our fellow shinobi. Things went well until Gaara found something that wasn't right with his sand.

There is an enemy close by, he is invisible. I will cut him off. It would seem he is the reason our allies seem to be dropping in number.

_Alright, I am with you. Just hand me a seal so I can copy it to my palms for a strike, no paper for them to dodge..convenient no? Oh shit..Gaara, are you a clone?_

No, why?

_I think I found your daddy._

Take on the new enemy, I will handle my father.

_On it._

Itachi, Sasuke, and Yuki went to aide in the capture of the Second Mizukage. I darted off with Starke and Naruto to take on this new enemy, and B went to help out with the sealing of the Third Raikage, who was claimed to be the toughest of them all. I had difficulty tracking this person down, not even Starke could find him with his chakra sense ability(1). Thankfully Naruto's ability to sense malicious intent helped us pin point the enemy down. When the opponent came out of camouflage he was identified as Mu, the Second Tsuchikage. When Onoki saw this, he jumped into the fray and engaged Mu instead of us, telling us that we should not engage him due to his ability to use Kekkei tōta to use his Dust Release techniques.

As Itachi, Yuki, and Sasuke were combining different jutsus that varied from enhanced Fireballs, to taijutsu and genjutsu combinations. Quick to realize, Itachi claimed that the Second Mizukage was not real and an illusion. The Second Mizukage commented on Itachi's sharp skills and informed us that we had to find the Giant Claim that was hidden among the sand before they could stop it. Yuki quickly called for my assistance.

_**Getting frustrated. I need your help. We have to find that clam.**_

_I will be looking. Starke should be able to sniff it out. Got a location..Hey Sasuke..I need your help. _

:How can I assist?:

_I need the use of your Chidori. Going to cover it in my shield. When I do, fry it. If that doesn't work I will chain the damn thing shut._

When I found the Clam, Starke darted forward and started to harass the thing while I prepared a massive glob of violet pigment with pretty much a super water balloon. When it was finished I jumped over the clam and smashed the ball of congealing water over the clam, the Mizukage just laughed.

"You can't be serious. Using water to attack a clam? It is semi aquatic!" he laughed.

The congealed water began to do its work, sliding down the shell and covering it in and nice, thin layer of water. I preformed a tiger hand seal to stop the substance from going any farther and pooling to the ground while Sasuke used his Chidori Eisō to attack the Clam. When the lightning attack hit the congealed water the Clam was fried. The Second Mizukage was then taken back.

"Impressive, most would not think of using that," he said before clicking his tongue, "but you have to do better."

"I fried it once, I will do it again..well _we_ will," I yelled at him, this time preparing a fusion of the indigo and orange pigments to bind the clam shut.

Itachi and Yuki kept the mirage occupied, while they hunted the real Mizukage down. With the chains successfully binding the clam, for the time being, the illusions seemed to disperse as the wind carried the mist away from the field of battle. After that happened Naruto came up and had the brilliant idea of using a Big Ball Rasengan to break open the shell, or at least crack it. He also informed Sasuke that he should follow up with a chidori, I seconded that theory and created a large 'lightning rod' out of the indigo pigment to thrust into the clam. We had one shot at this and we couldn't mess it up. Naruto managed to hit the clam alright with the Rasengan and actually managed to crack the shell. I immediately came up behind him and thrust the giant needle made out of my chakra into the crack as hard as I could and finally Sasuke came behind us and struck the rod with a Chidori, sending the lightning through the rod and into the clam itself. After our attack the clam disappeared from the field and the illusions were canceled.

When that happened, Itachi and Yuki found the real Second Mizukage and began to focus on him, weaving their genjutsu together and pitting it against his.

Both of them confronted the Mizukage and activated their Collaboration Technique, "Ephemeral Heartsong."

The Second Mizukage fell to the ground and I quickly rushed over to the limp body before he could use his and stamped the corpse with the seal that I had on my hand and waited for it to take effect. The battle was over before it really began, and that literally scared me shitless. I did not want to be on the opposite end of that technique, ever. When that was over I called to Naruto and the others.

"Yuki, you and Itachi need to assist Onoki, Naruto and Sasuke should help with the reanimated Raikage, he is wicked strong, and I am going to get a better view of this and sort things out," I said beginning to climb a earth pillar.

"Why do you get to sit out?" asked Yuki.

_Because I can use telepathy and if I can see ALL of you it would make sending back up easier. Duh!_

_**What about Gaara?**_

_I will watch over him and assist if needed, but it looks like he is handling his own. _

As I finally reached the tall pillar I sat down and had Starke sit behind me as I watched Gaara face off with his father. Starke had the task of watching the fight between Onoki and Mu, and after I summoned the pather, it watched over Naruto, B, Sasuke and the others facing off against the Raikage. Gaara was in an epic fight with his father, using his sand and some sort of gold..from memory I read that Gaara's father used Gold Dust. His father was just trying to goad him on saying that he was relying on Shukaku, that is when I intervened with words.

"Bullshit! It's his momma!" I yelled down below.

"Karura?" I saw his father mouth before they went into heated battle and conversation.

"Yesh, remind me not to go to that family reunion," I shrugged before turning my attention to the Raikage fight.

I could see Temari and the others trying to use wind techniques on him, sighing as I knew that wasn't how it worked. I remembered that his weakness was his strength so I relayed the info to Naruto.

_Hey, um if you want to defeat the Raikage, if B hasn't told you before. Get him to hit himself. That should stun him long enough to get a seal going. If not you are going to have one hell of a time piercing him. I am not sure if Sasuke with the Sharringan and a Chidori can help..only thing I can do is drench him. _

**Alright, I can see what I can do.**

_I would go Sage Mode if possible but don't wear your ass out. _

I then brought my attention to Mu and Onoki, Itachi, and Yuki. However those two were far from my sight, the only indication I had of them were pillars of rock collapsing not to far ahead of me. Seeing as how that was a loss right now I turned back towards Gaara and the Old Kazekage, who was now trapt in a sand sculpture of Gaara's late mother, Karura. I read that she was pretty but the sand sculpture itself was stunning. I could easily tell where Temari got her looks from, given if Temari even shared her hair and eye color, but that much I wasn't sure about. 'Listening in', I trailed onto the thoughts of the Fourth Kazekage as he retold the story of his mother and his uncle to Gaara.

However he was not convinced that Gaara had learned anything and was lying about his companions. So I intervened.

_Old dead dude. Shut it. I am Gaara's friend, don't make me come down there!_

I realized my mistake as I was grabbed by something and brought to be face to face with the dead Kazekage. He was looking at me and inspecting me. Getting tired of it I glared at him.

"Take a picture it will last longer," I griped.

"Intresting," he said, "So this is the kind of people you sort with. Aren't you working for?"

"My friends," I said cutting him off, "Tell snake boy I will be there soon."

"Fine," he huffed before I felt my airway being cut off.

The Fourth Kazekage was crushing me alive! Oh hell no! I looked the corpse in the eye and focused my chakra, "Big mistake." Using a combination of my yellow and blue pigments in what was left of my tattoos I created a blade from my hand that extended out and pierced his skull, rendering him temporarily knocked out. I immediately jumped back and began to brush off any sand that was on me before I was beside Gaara, who was not looking pleased by my interference.

"What?" I said shrugging, "I was just telling him that you had friends. He ain't dead. Just a minute. Anyway when he comes around...do whatever. I will just stay back and heal."

"So who is this little kunochi?" came the voice of the Fourth Kazekage, "Your girlfriend?"

"Oh fuck you," I scoffed, "No. I am his friend...now before you go all crushin' me and stuff, know this. Fight me, oh well, I will kick your ass. Try and hurt one of my friends, I will obliterate you."

"Big talk for someone who I am about to destroy," he smiled.

"Oh your mother," I quipped back,"You know Gaara took your place right? People love him, fight for him, are dying for him, and he has friends like me, Yuki, Naruto, another jinchuriki, and the rest of the bunch. Go shove it."

"This true?" he asked.

"I am _Fifth_ Kazekage, yes. If it wasn't for her, I would have died from the hands of the Akatsuki, who are now my friends. Deidara and Sasori were to retrive me, but instead of killing them both, Kori was able to save my life, help me protect my people, and save the life of Deidara."

"Oh no boy, I heard that was all you. I just knocked out Sai who tried to kill you..or Yuki...wait what was it again?" I wondered aloud.

"I see," said the Fourth Kazekage, "You've truly grown Gaara… The only thing a parent needs to do, is trust in their children. That's all… And that in itself has true value. It appears that I didn't have an eye for value after all. The sand will always protect you… It's not Shukaku's strength that you wield, but your mother Karura's. Your mother truly loved you. More than I ever could have hoped. You've surpassed me… I entrust the village to you now… Gaara…"

With that, the Fourth Kazekage disappeared, his soul was at rest. I looked at Gaara and smiled weakly before high tailing it out of there, not fully willing to face him when upset. However, before I could escape, he grabbed me and was either hugging me or trying to crush me, right now I wasn't sure. Temari had come up, she was sent by Naruto from the Raikage battle, worried that her little brother was in trouble. I looked at her confused and shrugged, but then I could feel tears seeping into my shirt. Slightly wierded out, a cuddly, weepy Gaara was not what I had in mind, I pulled him off me and turned him to face Temari.

"Look, hate to sound heartless. We are kinda in the middle of something...and I gotta go bag Mu before he does something really stupid," I told him, "Here, your sister. Now I must hunt for mine and after Mu, we go hit up Kabuto and skin that bastard. Besides we have to stop Mu before he does anything nasty.

"Like what?" asked Gaara.

"Erm," I thought about it, "I have no idea."

_**Kori...there is something you should know. We just lost Mu.**_

_Great, on my way. Hey Sasuke, I need you for something. _

:What is it? I am kind of busy here:

_I need bait..you are bait._

:I refuse.:

_I could make you...I can mind control._

:Naruto is having trouble:

_The old scrolls said that the Raikage was killed when he was hit with his own weapon. That should help. Come on Uchiha..._

:That is what I am working on:

_Be there in five, bind him, and lock him down long enough for you to gank him._

I then darted to where I knew Sasuke was and saw that the dead Raikage was wicked fast. Thinking, I knew that he would have to sit still long enough for me to get a lock on him and that would happen and I would _not_ sacrifice anyone to him. Quickly adjusting my tactics I created a small Indigo and Green ball. The Green would enhance the speed of whomever used it and the Indigo would shroud them for a few seconds before the chakra depleted. I wistled and summoned Starke. He knew my plan and was already on his way to deliver the ball to Sasuke, who was the only one who could keep up with him, other than Naruto in his Sage Mode.

_Naruto, distract the Raikage. Sasuke, I am sending Starke with a boost to enhace your speed and a shroud to make you harder to see. I want you to use a Rasengan or Tailed Beast Ball, or at least form one. When he dodges, Sasuke I want you to strike him with a copy of his attack. Think we can make it work?_

:I will see that it is done.:

**Pretty impressive for a human..**

_Shut up Kyubi._

The plan went off without a hitch, amazingly. Naruto timed it just right, and had the Raikage dodge both his and B's attack, vocally stating his plan to get B in on the fun. When the Raikage jumped back from the side attacks he was hit with Sasuke's copy of his own Hell Stab, stunning the Raikage long enough to be sealed. Things began to look up but the War was not over and there was still Mu to have to worry about. So Gaara, Naruto, Sasuke, B, and I headed off to where Yuki was.

We were astonished to say the least. Mu was defiantly holding his own against Itachi, who was the only combatant able to stand. Yuki and Onoki were severely injured and I rushed over with Starke to deliver some immediate medical attention. Itachi was using Susanoo to defend himself from the waves of attacks from Mu. Sasuke decided to help his brother and began to use Amaterasu to ignite Mu. This drove him away for the moment.

"Don't let him escape!" I warned them.

"He...can...split..," said a weary Onoki.

"Calm down old man," I said healing his injuries, "We can do this. Gaara, imobalize him. Naruto, do what you do best, and B back 'em up, your style."

"We haven't gone all out in a while, Hibachi and me will be awesome in our style!" said B when he jumped into the fray.

"Remember he can sense!" I yelled, "If he escapes we are in for it."

Unfortunately Mu, unbound his wrappings he was conveniently wrapped in and avoided being incinerated. As he did so he became invisible once more. If it were not for Naruto, we may not have known where he was located. Thankfully the three Jinchuriki were working well together in attempts to obliterate him and with the combined help of Hachibi's Tailed Beast Ball, Gaaras Imperial Sand Burrial, and Naruto's Rassengan they destroyed Mu. I sighed in relief when he was destroyed. However it was not our final victory, Starke sensed something amiss and investigated the remains of Mu.

_Pup, something isn't right. Yuki claimed she lost him...it only takes a moment._

It then donned on me. The Mu we destroyed was a halved copy of him. The other was still around here somewhere and we were fucked. The other corpse was already sealed before it could regenerated but I had to quickly locate the other Mu. Time was not on our side, so I called to Naruto for help.

"Mu is still out there, we need you to find him Naruto!" I yelled, finishing healing both Yuki and Onoki.

To our unfortunate dismay, there on top of one of the pillars rested Mu, accompanied by none other than my Nii-sama. However something struck me as odd. Nii-sama was not wearing his old attire. He had a completely different armor and was not wearing his mask. I had to stop myself from calling out to him by Nii-sama.

"Madara!" I cried, "You...are here."

"Yes," said Madara, "It would seem that I was needed here. By the looks of it, the jinchuriki I need are right here. Thank you for making this easy for us."

"What?" I asked.

"Well if it isn't who I wanted to see," said Mu.

"Wait, I am sorry..Who are you?" I questioned.

"While in the body of Mu, it is me Kabuto," grinned the corpse of Mu.

_Shit, this can't be good._

* * *

1.**Starke's Abilities: **I have not fully mentioned them in previous chapters. So while he is in combat, for now and until I deem he needs rest here is everything that Kori did to improve Starke when she was creating him and what he had picked up while in her body.

**Unusual Lifespan: **Since he has no blood to shed he does not suffer from grievous wounds nor can he die from a 'fatal blow' much like a human or regular animal would because he is made out of chakra and the paint that holds his form together, nor does he suffer from time aging him. However wounds do cause him to leak some chakra because he will instantly heal the wounds over. This is not true Immortality because the weaknesses of his lifespan are if someone can absorb Chakra like the Preta Path, seal chakra, or overload his natural flow, he will be seriously 'injured' and will risk disappearing. He also has to rely on Kori's chakra to recharge him and if she has little chakra or can't use chakra he would risk his 'lifespan'.

**Chakra Sense: **He learned this ability from the Inuzuaka clan, from Kori talking about it with Kiba and others when she helped the clan. He can not however tell the full strength of them like Akimaru but he can distinguish people, track them by their signal, and see about how much chakra they have left.

**Blood Hound:** Starke has the ability to connect with people by 'sampling' thier blood. After he has tasted thier blood from either biting them or licking their wounds to heal them, he can never lose them because everyone's blood is different. The only weakness to this ability is that over time he will lose the memory of the blood and must bite the person again and those who have be resurrected will have different 'types' to those who are living and are harder to track.

**Levitation: **Since Starke is not a living creature he does not have the same rules of gravity applied to him, since he is just solely made of chakra. He can move so swiftly he can jump off the ground and stay in the air for long periods of time by adjusting his mass according to where he wishes to go.

**Enhanced Abilities: **Constantly able to learn, and can access everything that Kori knows, he can quickly formulate strategies against his opponents based upon what he has learned about them. Along with his own 'personality' he can speak words, he just chooses not to because it 'takes too long'. He can use chakra to enhance his senses, speed, strength and quickly mold chakra in rapid succession for offensive and defensive techniques.

**Medical Knowlegde: **Being from Kori, he knows all her skills from her med-nin training and can sacrifice some of his time outside Kori by licking the wounds of the injured and touching them using a technique similar to the Mystical Palm Technique. However he does not like to sacrifice his time every often and will not use this carelessly.

**Telepathy: **He was the first between him and Kori to use this skill because he was 'born' from her. His range of Telepathy is the same as Kori's range but he does have the ability to carry her consciousness great distances for short periods of time or risk killing both of them. It also carries the weakness of having to use his chakra when he speaks to everyone.

** Heartsong:** Itachi uses his Emphermal technique to put the oppenet to sleep while Yuki uses her Heartsong to create the illusion by weaving genjutsu into her chakra and singing, creating an image of bliss to the opponent and making their body fall unconscious. The opponent most likely would not want to escape the heaven. If they do however, it is similar to the Demonic Illusion: Double False Surroundings Technique created and used by Oboro. However unlike compounding them into two similar genjutsu's this attacks the opponents mind through both the eyes and ears, compounding the genjutsu into a almost inescapable technique. The two users must focus on one 'scene' to put the opponent through otherwise the image will be unstable and allow the opponent to escape more easily.

3. Quotes from him taken from Narutopedia...meh I got lazy.

* * *

**Alpenwolf: **Well it was sort of an inner demon..it was her split in two. Oh well..neither one of them were actually the 'inner demon'. Yeah you are right about the Sakura comment and Kori is a bit more cleaver with the teachings of Tobi under her belt. Nah, I didn't figure you would be angry, I just wanted to clarify why I had Starke curse. Hm, the only people to make me upset in a few seconds are stupid people...and those are quite rampant..lol. Oh I am glad you liked the insult.

This should clear up the majority of the remainder of the fights, or at least the ones we have seen with the exception of the real Madara and Nagato/Itachi vs Naruto since it didn't happen. Yep, it happened. As for the trump card, we will see...besides what do you think that Kabuto kept Kori alive for?

**gunitatsuhiko: **Wow that was an amazingly short review. Meh anyway don't worry I will be bringing back the whole team and the OC's soon. Naruto and Sasuke are going to need all the help they can get. I still need to make the epic battles against Kabuto, Madara, Tobi and his Sage Paths. This time we will see two Sages of Six Paths face off with each other's Path's. That should prove interesting.

* * *

**River: **Alright kiddies, this should be the rest of the fights against the 'generals'. I hope you liked it. Took me forever to figure out what to do but eventually the creativity came.**  
**


	48. Chapter 48:Coming Out

**A/N**: Going to do the 'shout outs' before the chapter this go around. Anyway thanks guys for sticking with me this long. I couldn't have done it without you, and don't worry this isn't "The END"...yet.

* * *

**gunitatsuhiko: **Yeah, she is a spitfire. Yes 'your mother' was an insult. Thank you, thank you. Yeah I kinda wanted to get some of the things out of the way and get to the point. I kinda feel now that it was a bit sudden but it works. Yes, got to love Itachi's dry humor. Okay I will try and clarify who is talking or in this case thinking

**Alpenwolf: **Ah another silly mistake made by me. It is alright I fixed it. Really? Interesting. Yeah epic fights are coming. Right now I must try and make things really cool and try and figure out what the author is going to do, and avoid it. Majoirty I will, for the most part, but some things I am itching to predict. Thanks for the comment about the beginning, wanted to add some humor..I will try to keep it fresh and light with the deep and heavy. Hmm...are you right? We shall see -evil laugh-

**Sukaretto Miyuki: **Don't worry about the confusion, seems like it was an issue but yeah I didn't realize it would have been a problem until now..meh..Moving on. Wow, everyone is rooting for Kori..damn I feel bad now...don't worry you will see. Don't worry about the shortness and thanks for the props.

Alright, same thought things as before, but now I will cairify them a bit better. Only covering the 'Main' ones here...the others will be Italicized and be 'so and so' thought...or whatever...

_Kori_

_Starke_

_**Yuki**_

:Sasuke:

**Naruto**

_**:Itachi:**_

Gaara

_:Killer B:_

* * *

**Kori's POV**

There he stood looking down on me. I couldn't shake this new feeling that I had, there was something about him that struck me. Was it hope or fear? Anger? Kabuto wasn't an issue, but this 'Madara', he was the real deal. I could pick up a few memories from his life indicating he was real. I stood there and took a deep breath.

_Starke, in the shadows. Naruto summon everyone here. Shit is fixing to go down. _

I could hear the Kyubi's response as it relayed the message to all of Naruto's clones. In a few minutes, hopefully everyone would gather. I suddenly found my hand on my scroll, the one that I kept hidden from everyone. The one that held my fake life. The one fabricated, I might as well hold the mask on a little longer. So I took it out and tossed it into the air, allowing it to fall over me, covering me in my old, brief, uniform. I then hopped up to where they were and turned to face the others.

"Sorry," I breathed.

"Wait what is going on?" asked Yuki.

"Meet," I said trying to keep calm, "Nii-sama."

"Excuse me?" came the voices of both Yuki and Madara.

"You wouldn't understand," I replied, "Now Kabuto, why are you in possession of Mu?"

"To finish what you didn't," he hissed, "It would seem that your mission was a failure."

"No, I contracted the disease, they found the cure," I said looking at the body of Mu, "It was they who healed me. I had nothing to do with it. Now if you believe I am a failure, what then?"

"Well there are still a few special people who have yet to join us," he said, "One moment and they will be here. First let's start with the souls of the Jinchuriki's deceased family."

"Gaara's father was already disposed of," I said quickly, "He won't be coming back."

"Well he isn't the only one," said Kabuto.

"Ah," I said, "_Her_...I don't think that is wise. If you want to debilitate them. It would be best to use Minato."

"Konoha's Yellow Flash?" said Kabuto, "Orochimaru failed to summon him."

"Well I believe you said you surpassed him," I said clicking my tongue before thinking ahead for what was to come.

_Whatever happens...don't be too alarmed. _

"Hmph," scoffed Kabuto in Mu's body before he began the jutsu, "I was hoping to get more use out of you."

"As I you," I said, "I guess this tattoo you gave me back when I liked you was nothing more than my death sentence."

"You are correct," he began laughing while the coffin came up.

I saw the Shinigami and bowed my head, "Well sorry Mu. Time is up, Starke!"

Starke jumped out from his hiding spot and lunged at Mu's body. When he did so, he ripped into the shoulder of the corpse. When he did so I preformed a hand seal.

"Transfer," I yelled as the tattoo went from Starke's body onto that of Mu's.

"What the-?" yelled Kabuto before Mu's body was sliced in half.

"I have no time for traitors, nor cowards," I spat, "Meet Starke."

When Mu's soul was reclaimed, I looked at the coffin that was summoned and took the kunai out of Mu's pocket that was to be used in the ritual. Quickly I grabbed it and while moving, altered the kunai before I dove into the coffin and as the lid was removed I stabbed into the heart of the corpse of Minato Namikaze. He lurched forward and grabbed my hand before I found myself being kicked toward the ground and within an instant I was facing him again with a Rassengan with my name on it.

"Shit! Metallic Shackles!" I said before the Rassengan hit me.

Before he could connect the Rassengan his arm was chained up and jerked back. Then chains exploded from my skin and bound him up. I bounced off the ground and rolled away, leaping up.

"Minato! Damnit...you should know me...I was the crazy friend calling Kyubi, Puppy!" I shouted while I made sure the corpse was okay.

"What the hell?" yelled both Yuki and Naruto.

"Shut up, let me think," I said before I made sure Minato was bound up, "Okay good. One."

I jumped back up and turned toward Madara. I placed my mask over my head before grabbing the chained up Minato before looking at the others.

_Okay quick run down. Madara not quite evil...-ish...Tobi..very evil. Kabuto, EXTREMELY evil and have to deal with him. Sorry about your dad Naruto, had to get Kabuto to use the jutsu. I can seal him if you want...right now he is tied for the time being. Don't know how long it will last, your dad was bad ass. Okay, next. I was found by Tobi, poisoned, tricked, sent to kill ya, er...yeah..and now I got my true memories back but something not right...okay I think that is the run down. _

"What now?" I asked the real Madara, "You should know who I am, and I would give you the counter seal for Kabuto's personality thing, but that would be bad. I am not sure I can trust you."

I glanced at the others, Sasuke and Itachi were glaring at me, possibly wanting to kill me, Yuki and Naruto had not come out of 'meltdown mode', Gaara was impassive as always, B stood there waiting for something, and the rest would be here soon. I wanted more than anything for them to kill me, or at least try to, it was what I deserve. Morality was a bitch and when I got it back, Karma practically chewed me up and swallowed me. This was killing me, hurting my family, but I had to play the 'puppet' for a little longer. So without waiting for anyone I hoped up on the plateau and looked down at them.

"No final words?" I asked.

Instead of speaking they all hit me with different thoughts, for a moment I felt my knees buckle with the force they inflicted. The pain was intense, but manageable. I slowly cut them off from my ability before focusing on Starke.

_Are you with me until the end? I wouldn't feel bad if you tried to off me._

_Pup, if you go down this path, we part._

_Been nice fighting with you, but you know this is the best way._

_It isn't the only way._

_Let me finish chatting with a certain Uchiha...maybe, just maybe I can seal him. _

_If I.._

_Wouldn't expect you to do any less than kill me slowly if I betray you. Hn, seems like you know what is best. Didn't think I would be out classed by a creation._

_Not that it is difficult._

_Evil mutt, I could turn you into a collie..._

_You better sleep with your eyes open. I will be watching._

_Protect them, promise me._

_I will._

_Thank you. _

_The others will be here soon._

_Guess I better wrap up things before Neji comes. Hate to fight him. I'd lose._

_You would give up, you mean to say._

_I wouldn't know. Never tried to actually...okay maybe a few days ago I tried and I didn't win.._

"Hey Nii-san," I said cutting off my mind from Starke, "You know why you were summoned?"

"Probably because _his _plan was going wrong," said Madara.

"Okay, good up to speed," I sighed in relief, "So, what are you going to do?"

"First ask why my descendants are fighting with Konoha?" he asked, eying Itachi and Sasuke.

"Damn, do you guys have radar for one another?" I gasped, "Never mind, well Madara. You are looking at the _only two living _descendants of your line. Fake Nii-san had them killed. The man who was punished for it, Danzo, ordered it. Your descendants have been confused, conflicted, and pretty much are pariahs, but what can I say about family."

"You are not an Uchiha," he said.

"Never said I was. I am a Asshudo but before that a Kohaku. My family was killed by the ones who summoned you, well they will be. Let me explain a bit better," I said holding up a hand, "One touch is all I need for you to see what happens."

"Hn," he said, "You think I am a fool?"

"Er, trick question?" I mumbled, "For working for Fake Nii-san, yes."

"Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!" he said before a giant fire ball sped towards me.

"Shit," I cursed, "Fusion Art: Violet Iron Shield!"

Metallic paints and purple pigments mixed with my chakra and congealed to form a thick wall of water blocked both me and the now chained up Fourth Hokage, Minato, shielding us from most the blast. I jumped out of the way in time for the jutsu to eat the shield and keep going. I narrowly escaped and could _defiantly_ feel the flames lick my shoes as I was in the air, I landed a few feet away from him.

"What the hell!" I screamed, "I didn't wanna be barbecued! Uchiha, poster boys for the hot-headed, thick skulled, emos! Yesh!"

I could feel Minato struggling against the chains and I dropped him, having little time to be gentle and removed his bindings. I looked down at him, "Er, sorry for the ker-splat but busy. You might wanna move..FIREBALL!"

I can tell you now, dodge ball was an evil sport invented by bullies so they could get away with beating up 'weaker' people, playing dodge ball with fireballs, was a whole new hell. I couldn't see what Minato was up to, but the others were in action as well. Gaara was using his now gold infused sand to block incoming fireballs while defending himself, B, and Naruto from Madara's attacks. I jumped away from the fight to begin converting all my chakra attacks to defensive techniques while hoping to get the shout out to the others in time.

"Careful he has Sasanoo and the Mangekyou Sharringan!" I called.

"We know!" they yelled.

"Well shit," I said, dodging yet another fireball.

All three jinchuriki were now lined up for a triple tailed beast ball, and I _prayed _that it worked. However, his use of the Rinnengan proved to be quite handy for him. He had already activated it and used the chakra absorption technique for it.

_Fuck,_ I thought, _If he absorbs all that chakra...we are so...he is fixing to meteor...damn...why do all the bad guys have the really COOL jutsu?_

"Stop it!" I yelled, "He eats chakra like candy..if you do that...hey there is a shaaadow-fuck. He did it didn't he?"

I looked up and saw the Meteorite Technique. I could feel a sweat drop and panic attack creeping up on me, but I wasn't going to let that stop me. I quickly thought about what we could do before help arrived. Thankfully I didn't have to wait long, Sakura, Neji, Suigetsu, Miyuki, Aiko, Hidan, Kisame, Jugo, and a few of Mari's golems arrived to assist with clearing people out of 'harms way'. Onoki was already in the path of the Meteor and was using his Earth Element mastery to slow down the meteor.

I threw out my thoughts, _Guys, Tailed Beast Bomb when Onoki clears...Center...Sasanoo Itachi and Sasuke, Yuki and the other's occupy Madara butt with me...we can't let him do another one!_

Instantly Yuki's thoughts hit me: _**We will talk about your adventures when we get out of this, sister**_**.**

_I am still breakable. Remember that._

_**Oh don't worry I will remember...**_

_Ep!_

Gaara snatched Onoki out of the way before the Triple Beast Ball hit the center of the meteor hit and separated it. The large fragments were knocked out, away from the Allied Forces by Sasuke's and Itachi's Sasanoo. I was busy trying to hold up my end of the bargain by keeping Madara busy...

**Allied Forces H.Q**

**No POV**

Mari burst through the tent where A, Tsunade, Shikaku, Ao, and the others resided. She was pale and looked at Tsunade.

"A huge rock, out of the sky. The monks called this God's Will, or at least referred to it," she said, "I need to get out there. I can summon my two guardians to help."

"Konan, Nagato, Mari, be ready to leave," said Tsunade, "I am heading out. Get the Teleportation Technique ready."

"No need," said Mari, "We can travel the same way Zetsu did. I studied his movements and learned a useful technique from Kisame. I can do it. Just gather around me. I can carry us together no problem. To protect us I will have to encase us in earth, so don't use up any oxygen unless you need to."

"I am going with you," said A.

"Let's move," said Tsunade, "We need to grab the other Kage as well."

"Tell them to move to my quicksand," said Mari, "I can have a golem transport them. This will take a while though and I will need a minute to recover but it is safer. Gather around."

A and the others did as she instructed and the intelligence group relayed the message to the other Kage. Mari took a small bar of coal out of her pouch and inscribed symbols on her forehead and arms, after she was finished she focused her chakra. The ground below them began to get decorated with a circular pattern before the earth lifted off the ground and began to encase them in a thick sphere of rock and earth.

"Earth Release: Great Voyage!" called Mari before they were swallowed by the earth.

The rest of them stood there in shock, the timid girl that Mari claimed to be was apparently false. Shikaku only shook his head trying to hold back laughter.

"What is so funny?" asked Ao.

"You wouldn't get it," said Shikakau, "She has been trapped behind the lines for the majority of the war, now she gets a chance to prove she isn't as 'useless' as she claims to be. Besides...with the whole group of troublemakers together, I actually feel sorry for Madara, Tobi, Kabuto, and Zetsu."

**Main Battle Field, Jinchuriki Guard.**

**Kori's POV**

Madara and Onoki were aruguing over something, all I could tell was 'blah blah...another way, blah, blah'. Needless to say I was tuned out, plotting what I was going to do. I was in the middle of being stuck between Madara, Minato, and the rest of the people who trusted me and who I just confessed about being sent to kill them. I didn't know what to do, if I went close to Madara I was dead, if I tried getting near a pissed off Minato for being resurrected I was dead, and if I got near the others I was dead. Our reinforcements had already arrived and now there was a small skirmish between the White Zetsu Army and my family.

Hidan, Suigetsu, Kisame and Aiko were using their weapons to the fullest as they danced through the score of Zetsu, cleaving them in half or dismembering them. Hinata and Neji were putting their Byakugan together and backing up everyone along with Starke and Yuki, striking various Zetsu before they could latch onto someone and copy them. B, Miyuki, Jugo, and Sakura were smashing the Zetsu into pieces with brute force. Itachi, Deidara, and Sasuke were still focusing on the second meteor that Madara summoned not to long ago. Yuki and Naruto, however, they were looking at me. I could seen two different things in their eyes. Yuki's held betrayal and I didn't need to read her mind to know what she was thinking, and Naruto was of confusion about my actions but he understood that my intentions were not to harm the others.

Sighing, I finally turned towards Minato who was standing there with a look of disappointment on his face, "So tell me exactly what a claimed friend of my son would be doing working for him?"

"Long story," I said rubbing the back of my neck, "I was...working for...Tobi, fake Nii-sama, and I came back to Konoha to kill everyone and capture Naruto. Though they weren't in Konoha and were kept somewhere safe, thank Kami. Well when I broke through whatever held me I came to my senses and...well. I don't want to hurt them but I can't betray Tobi."

"Why not? You have sealed away all the other generals," he said narrowing his eyes.

"That is a secondary function of the genjutsu," came a familiar voice, Tobi, "Gather the jinchuriki for me."

"Tobi!" I said whipping around, "What are you doing here?"

"To see what you were up to," he said.

"Do you know what Kabuto's intentions are?" I asked.

"Yes," he said, "That is not why I am here, I question yours."

"I got myself back and my history Tobi," I said, "If that is what you mean."

"It would seem that I should have used Tsukuyomi on you," growled Tobi.

"Generals of Death and one puppet," said Minato behind me.

"Hey old man," I snapped, "I am not a puppet!"

"Is that so? Then kill them," said Minato.

_Can I? _I thought. I tried to will my body to move but I found my feet firmly planted to where they were, without any sort of jutsu keeping me in place, as far as I knew but I could be easily placed into a genjutsu. Only way to counter that would be if Yuki would sing and counter it...I tried to reach out to her to help me but I found my mind closed off from everyone. Tobi looked at me and I could tell he was smiling.

"I see you did permanent damage to my mind," I said, "What did you do?"

"Making sure that you didn't betray me. With one thought I could kill you," he said, "But for now, to even the odds I brought my own Six Paths."

The bodies of the former Jinchuriki appeared out of nowhere. They landed around me and Minato, I glanced at Minato, pleading for him to run before things got out of hand.

"With your mind control, you would have been trouble if I hadn't of prevented it from being used on myself, Kabuto, or Madara. I had to make some adjustments," said Tobi before he called to the other corpses, "Seal away that man."

"Dad!" I heard Naruto yell before a giant Rassnegan blasted the old fourth, sixth, and seventh jinchuriki and cleared a path for him.

Minato jumped down to escape and they left me there in the, so to speak, 'clutches of the enemy'. I felt my body to move on its own as I walked to the edge of the plateau I was standing on and looked down at Naruto, B, and Gaara. I knew what was going to happen. Whatever that bastard did, I couldn't stop it on my own.

_Please, please don't let them get caught. RUN PLEASE RUN! _I screamed as loud as I could in my head, hoping that someone would hear me.

Kabuto laughed, "It looks like her emotions have returned. Pity. Don't try it Kori, fighting will only drain your chakra and cause damage. Give in."

"F-f-uck y-you," I studdered against the jutsu.

"Oh still feisty," he said, "You would make a wonderful addition to my collection of abilities. Along with Sasuke."

I held my eyes shut as I walked towards the edge of the plateau and jumped, just because I was a ninja didn't mean I was invincible. Tobi was going to kill me, then he was going to resurrect me and have Kabuto wipe my personality. I braced for impact but was surprised when I was hit from the side and didn't feel my bones break. I opened my eyes and found myself in the arms of Minato. I could have kissed him! I would have viciously sanitized my mouth after because he was a corpse but I could have kissed him still. As we landed a group of Zetsu who were surrounding Miyuki and Suigetsu were blown back as a giant ball burst from the ground revealing Nagato, A, Tsunade, Mei, the Six Paths, Mari, and Konan. They scattered and began to epically finish off all opponents as Tsunade, A, and Mei joined Onoki and Gaara.

_Go granny...go Mari. I love you._

"Damn," I heard Kabuto curse, "She survived. That Minato is troublesome."

"He wasn't supposed to be resurrected," said Tobi, "Unless we kill him, we will have problems on our hands."

I reached up and touched Minato's face, _Leave me here, tie me up, disable me and help the others. They need the back up. Just make sure I am no where near your son or the other jinchuriki. _

Minato nodded and bound me up before teleporting me somewhere. I couldn't have been so happy to be tied up and away from the fight. Whatever happened to me I doubt I would be able to figure it out with out some peace and quiet.

**Yuki's POV**

After I heard the ridiculous story of Kori, I couldn't believe it! What the hell was she smoking? Before I knew it Kori just began to walk off a cliff. I knew she was crazy but not suicidal. I went to move but before I could blink the body of Minato caught her before bounding her and sending her away. He then joined up with me and Naruto. He touched the shoulder of Naruto, and that is when I was on him.

"Get away from him corpse," I said placing myself between Minato and Naruto.

"Yuki!" said Naruto, "Stop it, that is my dad. Kori she saved you somehow. Didn't she?"

"I don't know," he said frowning, "For all I know that Kabuto could do something. He was the one who summoned me. Until I can no longer, I will protect you again son."

Naruto began to tear up and hug his dad, "I know you will. Let's finish this!"

"Where is my sister?" I asked frantically.

"She knew she was being controlled. She asked me to keep her away from everyone so she didn't risk controlling anyone," he replied.

"She hasn't been able to before," I told him.

"Yes, but as I see it, she had something to do with that Tobi, Kabuto, and Madara," he said before his eyes hardened, "Tobi stole the life of my wife, almost my son, and dealt a fatal blow to me before I could stop him. I will not allow him to do anything again."

"Do you think they told her how to?" I asked.

"I am not sure," he said before focusing on what was going on.

The Five Kages gathered and looked at Tobi and his evil before declaring that they were going to stop him.

* * *

**Earth Release: Great Voyage **(yes, I got lazy when naming it) Derived from Earth Release: Subterranean Voyage, but much stronger and can carry a small group of people. Mari encases people in a thick bubble of earth before she submerges it into the ground and moving through the earth quickly. The bubble is to keep everyone together and safe from any obstacles that could obstruct the path.

**Kohaku- **The former last name of Kori before she was adopted. Though she is a descendant of Ino Yamanaka, names were changed after the Fourth Shinobi war and marriage would have had her family's name changed, perhaps multiple times. So yeah...

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**River: **Alright boys and girls another chapter...I hope you like it. Other than that, not much to say.**  
**


	49. Chapter 49:Captured

**Kori's POV**

I sat there struggling with my inner conflict. I hated being here away from the battle and away from helping my friends, but Tobi could easily use my relationships against me. Sighing, I sat there fiddling with the ropes out of sheer bordem. I just couldn't sit here could I? Well for whatever reason I decided to do this, I realized it was wrong. I shouldn't be running away. I should fight everything, even if Tobi was going to use me, I had a chance. I went through hell and high water for this? To chicken out when there was a _slim chance_ that I could hurt my friends. I think I could have slapped myself at this point in time. God I was so stupid and immature right now.

**Battlefield**

**Yuki's POV**

The appearance of the Kage was most welcome. The Guard and my new family were now deciding who to face off. The Kage would be taking on the reanimated corpse of Madara, Itachi, Sasuke, Sakura, Starke, and I were to guard the Jinchuriki, Nagato, Konan, and his six paths were going to face off against the other Six Paths, Aiko, Hidan, Suigetsu, and Miyuki were going to deal with Zetsu, Mari, Jugo, and Dei were on crowd control, while the rest were going to back us up, mostly by keeping the enemy away from the jinchuriki.

As the battle went on, Mei and A were busy distracting Madara while the others were attempting to form a plan. Naruto was showing concern about Tsunade healing the people wounded along with Miyuki and Sakura when they were able before Tsunade dismissed them and brushed off Naruto. It was quite different healing your wounds than it was healing a whole villages. Madara was about to attack them with his own version of Susanoo but was stopped by Gaara's and Onoki's jutsu. Then Onoki hopped on A to deliver a sneak attack as Mei covered the field with a mist.

I would have liked to observe more but Zetsu was already sending the remainder of his clones to our location to attempt to wear us out. As they came we kept killing them with the help of Sasuke's Blaze Release, Itachi's Amaterasu, Mari's own personal army of _explosive _clay dolls, and whatever the others had at their disposal.

**No POV**

Aiko and Hidan were gracefully using their weapons to dance along the enemy and slice them into pieces as they made their way to Black Zetsu. He had released his spores, causing those two to back off and having Miyuki, who rejoined the group and Suigetsu combine their water element and began spraying the spores, and Zetsu himself.

"That isn't going to work," muttered Black Zetsu.

"Aiko!" yelled Miyuki, "Now!"

"Wind Release: Dust Wind Technique!," she said, enveloping her small bladed fans in wind chakra before releasing two large gusts of cold air.

The cold air reacted with the water techniques and began freezing the spores, part of Zetsu, and any area that had been drenched. Hidan quickly came behind the technique and shattered the masses of spores and quickly thrust his scythe toward Zetsu. Not one to be captured, Zetsu used his roots that he grew and caught the scythe and Hidan in them. Aiko was not far behind using her wind fan blades to slice down and deliver two blows to the roots entangling Hidan, setting him free.

Meanwhile Kisame, Neji, Hinata, and Shikamaru were busy facing off against Kabuto. He was using his Hidden Shadow Snake Technique to defend and attack the close range offense of Neji and Hinata. They were using their Gentle Palm techniques coupled with the Byakuygan to try and disable him while Kisame attempted to use guerrilla tactics with Samehada and Shikamaru was trying to pin him down with his Shadow Sewing Technique.

Things seemed to be going well for this group until Hinata stepped a bit too far to the side and attacked Kabuto, who dodged easily and struck out with his snakes. Both Neji and Hinata's eyes widened as she jerked her hand back and shut her eyes waiting for the pain of her hand being bit. After a moment, she realized she wasn't. She slowly opened her eyes to see Kisame guarding her and had already severed the snakes heads with his sword. Kabuto hissed in pain as he jerked his arm back...

**Kori's Location**

**Kori's POV**

I had just finished undoing my bonds, no thanks to Minato's ability to tie rope. Jesus, he was an expert. I had to dislocate more than my shoulder to get out of them, and thanked god that I was naturally double jointed. After freeing myself and spending the agonizing minutes popping my joints back into place, and making sure I didn't accidentally have a nerve slip into the socket as well, I began to make my way back to the war, or at least somewhere.

After roaming around for a few hours I found myself at a cave, so I decided to go into it. A few more hours of wandering in the dark, along with various bumps and bruises, I found myself in a familiar chamber. I had seen this place before...It was the location of the Ten Tails Statue, thingy. I gasped as I ran up to the statue and began climbing it to look at the eyes, seven were open. I muttered a few curses and tried to figure out what to do next. As I was thinking, I stupidly started swaying and lost by footing. Grabbing out, I touched one of the eyes that was open and could hear screams. This was the eye for the Six Tails.

_"Help!"_ came a voice I didn't recognize.

"What the fuck?" I asked.

_"You can hear us? Siblings! She can hear us!" _said the voice.

"Wait, woah, woah," I said jumping back and falling down and landing on my ass, "Ouch. Hold on. I can _hear _you. I thought it only worked for humans, corpses of humans, and well I could hear Kyuubi but he was in Naruto...and HOLY SHIT!"

_"Would you shut up and listen!"_ came the voice, _"Honestly! Humans. I am the Two-Tails, former tailed beast of the Jinchuriki Yugito Nii. You are fortunate enough that I like your kind. I can't say so much for my siblings. I guess since my last keeper and I were so close I am able to speak to you. You have to get us out of here. If that man gathers us all, we will die."_

"But the statue is to reunite all of you together," I said.

_"When we are reunited, we will merge. Become one, we will blend together and die, as you humans call it. When we merge all of our seperate thoughts cease. I for one like being a separate entity. It was very boring when we were last together." _

"Boring?" I asked, "But aren't you guys all 'whoo I am ultimate power, hear me roar!'"

_"What is the fun of ultimate power if you aren't the one controlling it. Humans are fun, they can be anything they want to, unlike us. We are stuck being pegged as weapons and our keepers are cursed with lives of alienation, well some of us. Hibachi and I were lucky. We found ways of coping with our keepers."_

"Keepers? Jinchuriki are prisons," I stated.

_"Must you be so pessimistic," _it growled, "_Look find a way to free us before he gets back. There isn't much time."_

"Okay first off, I don't know _how_. Secondly, what makes you think I will release six rampaging energy sources...or chakra ball things into the world that they are pissed off at?" I looked up and shrugged at the 'talking eyeball.'

_"Valid point, but we all share one thing in common. We want to live out our lives as they are. _Separately. _We hate humans because they only saw us as monsters and weapons. How would you feel if that happened to you? I for one am grateful that my former keeper Nii gave me a chance to look at life differently. Now I don't care what happens to us as long as I stay me."_

"Can I smash the thing?" I asked, "Would that work?"

_"No, you would have to use a reverse jutsu of the one that man used to retrieve us. Plus you need containers for my siblings. They are not the most reasonable. Three Tails and I would be the safest ones to keep out. Though it isn't up to us if we can have freedom, your kind made sure of that."_

"Humph, well what doesn't kill them...hey if your siblings promise not to kill anyone, I can get you out. Tobi wants the other three and when he gets them, he will come back here. Until then I will try to find a way to get you guys out..." I said beginning to climb the statue and hide behind the head and the rock wall that it rested on.

_"I can not speak for all of them. Those who were bathed in hatred do not speak like I can. They are full of emotion and can only express themselves in images and waves of emotion."_

"Look I don't need five different growls or whatever slamming against my brain. I do _not _want a migraine," I huffed before shuffling into a position that I could lay comfortably and think. _Well there was that recording thing, and if I could get a hold of a scroll_...I thought as I hid myself among the background.

**No POV**

Hidan and Aiko's group had finally beat Zetsu into submission. With the help of Mari, who finished squishing quite a few White Zetsu with her _Titan_, her ultimate two story golem that was made out of a special mixture of earth the monks created years ago. Mari used her Earth Jutsu mastery to cause a fissure in the earth and to compact it together, making it impossible for him to dig. Suigetsu and Miyuki, who didn't want to be left out, filled the gaps in the decent sized hole with water with jutsu and Suigetsu used his Hydrification Technique to become part of the water so Zetsu couldn't escape.

Then Hidan and Aiko decided to question the plant-man in thier favorite method, chopping off body parts. The beauty of it was that Zetsu didn't bleed like normal humans did, so they didn't have to worry about him dying on them, anytime soon.

"Now weed," said Aiko harshly,"Tell me everything, or I will begin to play 'Snap.' That is where I take your bones, or whatever you have, and either break them or just snap them off. Got it?"

"Mhmmm," Hidan hummed in pleasure, "I have not seen that one yet."

"Go to hell," scoffed Zetsu.

"Well man-plant-thing, I could very well freeze you and watch you wilt," she said narrowing her eyes at zetsu.

"Impossible," he said.

"Ooh~" sang Aiko, "I smell a challenge!"

With that she proceeded to interrogate the plant-man.

Kabuto was cornered by the group that attacked him. Kisame proved more than useful in helping the others. He carefully countered and attacked viciously, dealing moderate damage to Kabuto. With his back pressed against a tree, bound to the spot by Shikamaru's jutsu, he was surrounded. Kisame was about to deal the 'death blow' to him, Kabuto hissed at him and spoke.

"You are part of the Akatsuki," he sneered.

"Consider this my resignation," said Kisame as he cut off the head of Kabuto.

As he did so Kabuto used his Human Body Shedding Technique to transform into his snake form and lashed out and _swallowed_ Kisame. He looked smug and then turned on the closest enemy, which was Neji. Neji prepared to deal with the giant snake, but when Kabuto opened his mouth to swallow another opponent, he stopped and looked down. Suddenly Kisame ripped right through him with his blade and began hacking away at the body anyway he possibly could. In the moments it took him to escape, Kabuto's body was left in a chunky, bloody, mess. The rest of them paled as Kisame just nonchalantly whipped a little blood off his face and smiled.

"What?" he asked, "He didn't' realize who he just swallowed. He was very lucky that I didn't cast any jutsu inside of him. Though it was difficult to move around, the force of his internal muscles..."

"Stop right there," Shikamaru said as he paled, "Save that story for the Terrible Two."

Kisame only smiled at the fond 'pet' name of Aiko and Hidan's relationship.

The Kage, minus Gaara, were not fairing well with Madara. He had already injured Onoki severely and was already using Sansanoo in full force. As Madara beat back the Kage, he unleashed a powerful swing that smashed the ground, injuring Tsunade and Mei as they dodged out of the way. The shock wave sent A off balance, since he was carrying Onoki who was using his dust release to lighten A. Madara raised his Susanoo's sword to finish off the Kage but was interrupted when Itachi stepped in and used his version and blocked with its Sword of Totsuka. Madara _'tsked'_ and then used a jutsu to attack Itachi.

"Wood Release Secret Technique: Nativity of a World of Trees," he said as trees began to grow over the battle field and break the earth to pieces.

Some of the trees sprouted right under Itachi, who was forced to move and disable his Susanoo for the time being to change his tactics. Thankfully Mei was already back up on her feet and was using her Lava Release to scorch the trees and prevent them from spreading rapidly and hindering their movement.

**Yuki's POV**

I was clearly outclassed by Tobi who was just toying with us. Thankfully we greatly outnumbered him and already had a few plans laid out. Starke kept close to me at all times and relayed my plans, as I came up with them, to the others if needed. The battle seemed to go on forever and finally Tobi stopped his attacks.

"I am growing rather bored of this game," he said, "I believe it is time for me to end this."

He sent his Paths forward, who stopped engaging Natago's and headed straight for Gaara, B, and Naruto. I intercepted them and used my wind release to knock a few away before throwing a couple kunai to cause one to dodge. I landed near Gaara who thanked me before he used his sand to crush one of the corpses. I realized what Tobi was doing when it was too late. He caused all of our focus to be placed on the other Paths, that we were not paying attention to him slipping behind Nagato and stabbing him in the chest.

Nagato looked down and then he he turned to try and deal a blow to Tobi. Konan was enraged and she used her jutsu to try and cage the man but he just used became intangible and escaped. Then it was a fight between her and Tobi. I broke off and grabbed Sakura and headed over to where Nagato was. He was in critical condition but Sakura said he could be saved. She had me go get Miyuki, but while I was gone apparently Tobi injured Konan and broke off to finish what he started. He ordered his Human Path to kill Sakura. The path latched on and began pulling the soul out of Sakura. Naruto and Saskue ran over to where Sakura was but it was too late, the soul was captured.

Before I knew it, both Sasuke and Naruto beat the living daylights out of the Human Path of Tobi, then they killed it, slowly. When they turned around, they looked puzzled because Sakura looked fine, but there was a new body laying beside her. It was that of Konan. She had a smile on her face and on a piece of paper there was a note: _What he would want._ Sakura cried over the loss of her friend but I had returned with Miyuki and with the both of them, Nagato's wound was sealed up nicely.

When the rest of Tobi's paths were subdued, we decided to focus on him, but he proved more trouble than we would have liked. Not only did he incapacitate Sakura and Miyuki along with those who came to back us up, but he was now behind me.

"You will do," he said as he grabbed both Gaara and me.

"What the fu-" was the only thing I could get out before we were transported somewhere.

It was a room full of shapes that extended forever. There was nothing that I had seen before. Moments passed before we were joined by Naruto and Sasuke, who was complaining that they wouldn't be in this mess if Naruto paid more attention to things, and then eventually B.

"Fuck sticks," I cursed, using Kori's more colorful ways of doing it, "So we lose."

"I doubt that," said Sasuke,"The others will regroup and come after us. Plus there is me and you that he took along with him. Thankfully I latched onto dobe over here."

"Shut up!" yelled Naruto.

"Look we are in trouble, we must blast out this bubble. Yo, don't trap us in here you freak, once I get out I will break your jaw," rapped B.

"Well Sasuke is right," I sighed,"We aren't totally useless. Besides he may take us out one at a time. Sasuke and I will be first no doubt...I mean he would have to be _royally_ stupid to let us all out at once. Plus there is Starke, he can track anything."

* * *

**Alpenwolf: **Rawrs to you catching my typos. Help appreciated, but rawr (non threatening cute growl). For a split second I thought he was Tobirama Senju, but then I was like 'no wait. I saw that dude's corpse.' So I have no idea who Tobi really is...honestly. I meant that to come out like her tattoos, no it is not like kushina's chains...god, I am confusing sometimes. Yes, he will have to. Oh Mei is there, you just didn't see the name. Okay I didn't mention Minato taking part in this fight but he will play a part in the next chapter. I know the fights weren't easy, I wrote them quickly but most everyone is incapacitated...and everyone is injured in some fashion...

**gunitatsuhiko:** Down, down girl. They are taking care of interrogation...atm. Thanks...I am a Perky Goth...blacks with neon colors and such with our own language and an obsession with hugs.

**Sukaretto Miyuki: **Well that is okay, I kinda wrote them quickly. Kinda like this chapter, I hope it is okay...

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**River: **sorry readers, I have had my own soul sucked out by Elder Scrolls V:Skyrim...I am a goddess at it, but my friends who have finally caught up with me due to the fact I am at school, may beat me...aww sucks...any-hoe...I know things went very quickly and this chapter is really short. I feel that there was a lot going on and I wanted to leave some 'bad assery' imagination up to you guys and I really wanted to update this because I have not in a while...due to video games and my ADD with projects...and hobbies...and pretty much everything in life.


	50. Chapter 50:Heroes of Time

**Kori's POV**

Even after almost a _thousand _different scenarios and ways I could attempt to gain the information, I was dead. Kabuto wanted me dead, Weed-boy, Zetsu probably wanted to eat me, Tobi or whatever his name was wanted to use me and then probably kill me, my old friends, who I still love would probably want me dead. So I was going all 'solo' on this crap and it _sucked._ I thought of every 'out of the box' way that I could possibly think of and none of it worked. Knowing _him_ and using my blood as ink, all the plans I laid out ended up with the miniature ink dolls killing the one I made representing myself.

"Ouch," I huffed, "Well, sorry creepy spirit or chakra things, I am screwed. There is nothing I can possibly do to save you and live and have the world not go to shit."

"_What do you mean?" _asked the voice of Two-Tails.

"Where I come from, there is no war, no sickness that isn't curable, within reason, and everyone is happy. Until you think...when you begin to think for yourself, ask why, they turn on you. It is a dream for some people and my personal nightmare. No ninja exists, chakra is a fairy tale, and the old legends are mythical stories about some hero rising up and bringing order and peace to the land. Most of the old countries were destroyed and there are a few tombs of people that are alive today, that were turned into museums and crap...and all and all...people are happy," I sighed turning to look up at the wall, "This hero...never once mentions his name or those he fought other than Madara and the Five Great Villages, but it did say he would bring the end to all hatred. Now that I know he got the power from the Old Beasts, as we call you in the future..I dunno guys. What if I am doing something wrong?"

"_Listen human, you are from the future. What if changing things is what you are __**meant**__ to do?" _it asked.

"Well what if changing things started this mess? God I hate philosophy and chance," I muttered before a sound caught my attention.

I rolled over and peered over the statue. There he was, the man in the mask. He was muttering something before he used his space-time jutsu to bring out two familiar faced. It took all I had to keep from pouncing them on the spot. I was happy to see them, but then again I couldn't kill him earlier. I rolled my eyes and shrugged mentally before having a pep talk and generally voting for the 'whatever, what have I got to lose' before I decided to begin making a weapon to try and kill Tobi before he could set his plan in motion.

**Battlefront, Allied Forces**

**No POV**

About the time Aiko and Hidan managed to finally get the real location out of Zetsu, they were broken out of thought by Miyuki. Apparently the girl ran full speed over to them.

"T-th-" she huffed, "They are gone!"

"Excuse me?" yelled Aiko, "I am in the middle of a riveting conversation and you interrupt me to say _they_ are gone. To whom are you referring to?"

"Yuki, Sasuke, and the remainder Jinchuriki," she breathed, "Right now Shikamaru is gathering a small group to take with him to rescue the others."

"Oh we are _so_ fucking in that!" said Hidan before grabbing Aiko and making a beeline to where Shikamaru was at.

"What about-?" asked Miyuki pointing at Zetsu. She looked around and found two nin that were close by before she managed to drag them to where Zetsu was, "You two, stay here. Guard _that_. If he is gone and _not _dead when I get back, I will unleash Hidan and Aiko on your butts."

"YES MA'AM!" they both said with fear filled eyes.

"Thank you," she said before returning to Shikamaru.

Meanwhile Shikamaru was busy trying to come up with a plan to escape and help the jinchuriki. He had his hands full with everyone bickering at once, and it didn't help that the war was still on going. His eye twitched and finally he did something unusual for him, he yelled, "SHUT UP!"

Everyone jumped back with the sudden yelling of him. No one was expecting the lazy and laid back ninja to actually yell, and have a voice that carried, hell even Madara and the Kage looked over for a second. With that, Shikamaru sighed and gathered those who were around.

"Look, we need to rescue Naruto and the others. If Tobi has them, then it is only a matter of time before he extracts the tailed beasts," he informed them.

"It took a while for us to extract them, and that was with the all the Akatsuki," said Hidan, "It was a pain in the ass too. Always wore my ass out."

"Well we don't know if he has perfected it or what," said Shikamaru, "We are wasting time. Now all of us have some sort of bond with those who are captured. Plus we know how the enemy thinks from Kori. She didn't know it but the night she returned, she tried peering into my memories. After I figured out how she did it, I looked into hers. It is a weakness of her jutsu, and with that I found out a bit about Tobi. The location we are going to has a lot of traps, so we will need at least four teams to cover the grounds and hopefully make it there on time. We also need at least one med-nin in each group or one who can't die like Hidan in case there are traps.

Tobi isn't going to make it easy for us and it is a high possibility we will die trying. With that said I will not take anyone other than us. We are all very capable and we should have enough man power to do about anything if we can't figure it out. Another thing Itachi, myself, Neji, and Deidara will pick whom they want to accompany them."

Shikamaru was about to say something else before Temari stepped in, "I am coming with you."

"No thanks," he said before Temari shot him a look, "That is my baby brother out there. I am sure Itachi can see my point. He has family in there and I am not going to allow former criminals and a bunch of strangers, excluding a few, attempt to rescue him. Besides you need another long to mid range fighter. Most of you are short range as is."

"She does have a point," said Itachi, "Alright, Kisame and I were former partners, we will be going with Sakura and Temari."

"Well Jugo, Starke, and Mari will be going with me, un," said Deidara, "We can make our own path if intelligence fails."

"I will be taking Suigetsu, Miyuki, and Hinata," said Neji.

"Alright," said Shikamaru, "That leaves Aiko and Hidan with me."

"What about the Kage?" asked Mari.

"They have back up," said Neji, "Besides they can handle Madara."

"I hope you don't mind if I tag along," said a familiar voice, "They have my son."

"Your still here?" asked Aiko in suprise, "I thought she would have sealed you away."

"No," said Minato, "She asked me to help. I am quite upset that she didn't allow me to rest as I should have but now isn't the time to think about that crazy girl's reasons. I believe I shall accompany your group, Shikamaru, if I am correct?"

"Yes," said Shikamaru, "We need to fill each other in on what we know about Tobi. The more we know the better."

"Well Yuki once told me I worked with Tobi and about what he used to do," said Deidara, "I don't see how that helps un, but anything does count."

"Yep!" said Mari smiling, "Alright let's get our friends back!"

Within a moment they were already heading to thier destination, with Starke leading them attempting to track Yuki. The connection was distant but not impossible to follow, however Starke almost stopped when he felt his creator's presence with them.

_Kori is with Tobi and the others. I can not tell what is going on but she is stressed. Perhaps she is being forced into something?_

"Well, with Tobi who knows," said Itachi.

They set off to find their friends who were captured.

**Tobi's Hideout**

**Yuki's POV**

Tobi pulled us out of his extra dimension and looked down at us. Sasuke and I were not sure what to do other than instantly try to attack him. Tobi was prepared for us and quickly outmaneuvered us. He stepped back, ducking and weaving between our attacks. It wasn't like Sasuke and I could do much, and enhanced fireball in an enclosed space was not a good idea, and we had to keep him alive to force him to release our friends. So what once was a hopeful rescue or a bide for time turned quickly into a fight for pure survival.

"Please stop," said Tobi, "You are only delaying the inevitable."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Well I am sure that my captured Jinchuriki should be here by now, with good news that the Kage and your other friends are dead," he said smugly.

"As if!" I yelled trying to exploit a small opening I saw in his guard.

He predicted my movements and grabbed me before striking me on the back of the neck, but the blow wasn't enough to knock me out. However I couldn't get up! I struggled against an invisible force but after what seemed like hours I found Sasuke thrown next to me with the same issue.

"Shut up," he huffed.

"I wasn't going to say anything," I said, "Except, got any ideas how to get out of this?"

"Not really," he said, "But that doesn't mean it is impossible."

**No POV**

The rag-tag groups that they had formed and narrowly escaped the war with were speeding toward Tobi. At first they were separated by many paths and eventually they came together again. The first thing they had discovered is that many traps that claimed Hidan, Mari, Suigetsu, Deidara, and Temari, and they were not even halfway through the labyrinth that consisted of this place. They weren't even sure if everyone survived but they couldn't stop. So those who were missing people, teamed up with the remainder of Deidara's group.

They broke off again and Neji's team found themselves in a high-ceiling room with a cylinder feel to it. They looked around carefully before they made their way into the room. They were halfway into the room before a rumbling sound began to shake the walls and they realized the floor was moving. Suddenly the floor began to break apart and shift. Under the floor was a large gap leading into a void of empty space, or at least they hoped it was empty. The doorways leading into this room also had large stones now being dropped down. If the floor splitting in two was not bad enough, the farther it receded into the walls, the farther it split and some places even broke off! Quickly they darted across the room to the other end, bouncing along the floor where it was still intact. Miyuki stayed with Hinata while Starke kept up with Neji.

As they bounced along Hinata misplaced a step and Miyuki caught her. Since they were the two closest to the door, Miyuki tossed Hinata through the door and positioned herself under the heavy stone to hold it open, fearing Neji and Starke would not make it. The stone began to weigh down on her as she placed her hands above her head and held the stone in place. Though she wasn't as strong as Jugo, she would be able to buy Neji and Starke the moments they needed to reach the frame. As they passed through she went to turn and join back up with them, but when she shifted, the walls began echo slight pops and sounds that revealed stone spikes being released from the wall opposite of the door they just passed. Neji, Hinata, and Starke deflected most of them but they could hear a cry of pain.

"Hey," said Miyuki's voice strained, "You are going to have to go on without me."

"!" gasped Neji and Hinata, while Starke bowed his head feeling remorse.

_We can save you._

"Not before my body gives out and the stone crushes us both," she smiled before leaning back, "Who knows how far this rabbit hole goes."

With her final words she let go of the stone and disappeared behind it. Neji and Hinata ran into the wall trying to catch her, but they failed her as they imagined the horrors that waited in that pit.

Meanwhile Shikamaru's group was not fairing any better. They had passed into a hallway that was becoming increasingly narrow. Now they were forced to be behind one another and if anything were to attack them, they would be sitting ducks. Minato was leading them, seeing as how he was the most 'durable'. They made it nearly through the entire hallway before Aiko tripped over something and in catching herself she pressed a plate that was in a wall. The trap was triggered and stone could be heard grinding against itself. Minato was the first to look up and he quickly tossed one of his special kunai for his Flying Thunder God Technique out of harms way.

"Grab onto one another!" he said before he grasped Aiko's clothing and used his jutsu.

The trap was however deceiving, the hole in the ceiling was not where the rocks came from. Down the hall where they stopped, or at least Jugo, was where they came down, burring Jugo in the process.

"No!" said Aiko, "I just lost Hidan, I won't lose another friend!"

She felt a hand on her shoulder, it was Shikamaru, "Look, the only thing we can do is to make sure this bastard pays for it."

They made thier way forward, in silence.

Itachi and the others were making thier way along a corridor, they had been the most fortunate of the groups so far. Not losing a single member to the traps they had encountered, yet. They suddenly stopped as they entered a large room. Looking around they realized they were not in the Demonic Statue Room but in another entirely. Judging from the structure, Itachi realized they were below the statue room. He looked at Sakura and Temari, hopefully he could use both of them to breach the ceiling. Temari could use her fan that she carried as a make-shift craft, that would carry Sakura. If timed right, Temari, Kisame, and himself could time and correctly combine a jutsu that would lift her up to the ceiling so she could break through. However it would be a long shot. He had little time to be acquainted with Temari and he knew little about her fighting skills. It was worth the risk though, if he could save his brother and apparently the world and bring peace, it was worth it.

As they prepared their jutsu, Sakura followed instructions and as she hopped into the air and tucked the fan under her, they released their jutsu. However instead of combining, all three chakras were non-existent. They tried again, but this time Itachi activated his Sharringan to find that it was being almost instantly absorbed by something. Looking around, he could see thousands of things in the walls. The chakra they had already released was now activating the trap.

"Damn," he cursed, "We are going to have company."

The walls then broke apart, revealing some kind of stone or earthy creature or humanoid thing. He could not get a clear form from it but he knew it was trouble. They all began to engage the enemy, though Sakura and Kisame were proving more effective, since Sakrua didn't have to release much chakra externally to cause a good amount of damage and Kisame was wielding his chakra eater blade, being thier personal weakness. If they all kept this up they would be weakened and overrun in a few minutes, a few hours if they used chakra sparingly or none at all. Sighing he looked at his partner and Kisame smiled.

"Go on, we will just be a bit late," he said cleaving the thing in half, "If pinky over there is fine with it."

"Cha!" yelled Sakura, "Oh I mean yeah, fine with me. Get Sasuke and Naruto!"

"You're forgetting someone," hissed Temari.

"...And Garra," said Sakura, "Just hurry up and go!"

With that Itachi and Temari went on, hoping to find the path to lead them to the room above, if not that, then to lead them to the others.

**Statue Room**

**Kori's POV**

I had just watched Tobi more or less 'pwn' my sister and Sasuke! This could not go on. So I crept out of my hiding spot and found the most hidden route to the floor where Tobi was gloating. I still had to buy time so my weapon would be complete. this would have to be the smartest and dumbest thing that I could do in my life. Even topping the awesome idea of feeding Gaara sleeping pills before I left for Konoha...not that I would do that. As my feet found the floor I felt something familiar. It was Starke.

_My wonderful loveable fluffy mutt! Hey I need you to do me a favor...how do you feel about being armor?_

_I fail to see where this is going._

_How many are with you?_

_Very few. My group just met up with the rest. Itachi, Hinata, Neji, Sakura, Shikamaru, Minato, and Kisame are amoung me. Sakura and Kisame just got here._

_Holy hell, perfect number...do not ruin my mood telling me...wait very few...the whole family came with didn't they? Well shit, I hope they are okay but I need you to carbon copy the looks of the other Jinchuriki...they are to be expected._

_Do they have to show up?_

_No...why._

_I will see you soon pup._

_Don't be late._

Well there was one plan set into motion. Well that was now Plan A, Plan B would be very silly of me to pull off. As I hid myself in the shadows I saw Tobi release Gaara, Naruto, and B. He used the same technique on those three as he did on Yuki and Sasuke. With everyone incapacitated, well everyone but me, I decided to make my move.

"How long are you just going to stand there looking like you are about to do something stupid," said Tobi, "I know you have been there watching."

"Well fuck!" I cursed.

I walked out of the shadows and found myself walking over to my friends who were either glaring or wide eyed. I shielded my eyes with my hair from them as I made my way to Tobi.

"Does this mean you are going to kill me?" I asked.

"Oh no, your meddling kept me from sacrificing anyone important. If left to his own devices Kabuto may have tried to challenge me. Though I would like to know why you summoned Minato and allowed him to keep his will," said Tobi.

"Well I figured it was a good way to show that I am on thier side," I said nervously, "but we all know where my heart lies. Who I am loyal to."

"Indeed," he said, "Well I will need you to move those two into a position, they will be feeding the jutsu with their chakra."

"I see," I said grabbing Yuki.

"I will fucking kill you!" she shrieked.

_Oh do shut up, look playing opossum is better than being the new paint job on the walls. Go with it._

"I will-" she still screamed.

I covered her mouth and looked at Tobi, "Is there a gag anywhere?"

"No there is not," he said before returning to what he was trying to do earlier, "I need your assistance."

"How so?" I asked.

"The Tailed Beasts, I need someone who is still capable of defending this area to prevent anyone from disturbing it," he said.

"Ah, so I am to wait outside then?" I asked, "Well can I take _those_ two with me. If I have the bait, you will be last on the list to be hunted, I belive. Or they will see me with them and then I will be your secret little agent and kill them all off..."

"That has already be taken care of," he interrupted.

"Clarify," I asked.

"Your former allies tried to make an attempt to find you, however they did not know the way and took many of the trapped corridors. They were taken care of," he said before bringing out Gaara, B, and Naruto.

"I see," I said trying to keep calm,"All of them?"

"Yes," he said flatly, "Now stop asking stupid questions and leave me to my work."

"Y-yes," I said before picking up Sasuke and Yuki, "I will just move these two then."

I did what I was 'supposed' to be doing, well acting like it anyway as the 'dead jinchuriki' showed up. I was seriously hoping that they were my friends in disguise. Things were going to go from bad to worse if something wasn't done. Naruto was already talking wildly about something and just being Naruto. I tried to ignore him, tried. However his words were sharper than any kunai could have been and stronger than any jutsu that could ever exist.

"How could you turn on your friends and family like that!" he yelled, "I thought you were different Kori! You were the one that everyone liked because you saw another way to end things, but I guess we were wrong."

_Naruto,_ I thought to myself, _if I do this, I will never have your trust, but if I don't, my life would be filled with regret because I watched all of you die. Please Kami have him shut up._

"Naruto," said Gaara and B, "Shut up."

I looked at B, and my eyes lit up before speaking to him, _Thank you B and Eight Tails. _

:_What right do you have of thanking me? Aren't you the one who betrayed this Killer B? Your friends believe that you are on thier side, but we both know that is a lie. I hope I get outta this before you fall because I will rip you in two!: _thought B as I picked up his thoughts.

I rolled my eyes, "Damed if I do then."

"What are you muttering about?" asked Tobi.

"Oh just picking up on the hopeless thoughts of those who are here. They are quite upset with me," I shrugged.

"So it is true then," he said, "Here I thought Kabuto was completely useless. Though they were correct, I did not believe you possessed that talent. One outside the Yamanaka Clan. And your _sister_?"

"She knows intent, much like Naruto does but she weaves genjutsu like you wouldn't belive," I told him, skipping over the fact he was _so _wrong about the Yamanaka clan part.

"I see," he said, "Well then keeping you alive will prove most useful."

I sat there watching closely how he preformed the seals for the extraction jutsu, though he would need loads of time to preform it on someone, thank god. That is until it donned on me why the others were there, to speed up the time. Even if my friends posing as the fake jinchuriki were on their way, they were going to step into deep trouble. They would not go along with killing someone and I didn't have enough time to plan out something else as they appeared around me.

"Ek!" I shrieked grabbing my heart to keep it from running out of my chest, "Don't do that!"

"Ah they are here," he said, not even turning to look at them, "Take your positions."

They all took their places, as Itachi and Kisame whispered what Tobi was talking about to the others. After they did so he brought Gaara up first. He placed him in the middle of the room and told them to 'get on with it.' Though the 'look' he gave, more like surprised body position, he had was more than enough to make me chuckle. Continuing the game I began flailing about in some over dramatized manner and holding my head.

"Trap!" I called, hoping my _real_ allies would understand.

"I see," said Tobi, sounding very displeased, "Unfortunate that this will only delay me."

Starke removed himself from the others, bringing them out as they attacked him. Taking cover would have been the smart thing to do but that was never my strong point. So I did what was needed, I went to Yuki and the others and helped them as best I could. When they were free, Yuki took it upon herself to try and really kill me, so I was making a mad dash away from her.

"Sorry!" I kept saying while dodging her attacks.

"Oh you _will _be!" she cried while taking aim at me.

Explaining things to her right now would not do me much good, it was best for her just to go with it. Perhaps I could cause her to aim at someone else after she calmed down from her little problem. It really wasn't like I wanted to do this.

**Sometime Later.**

Tobi had managed to nearly kill all of us, those who were claimed to have died or fallen had found a way to us. They were beaten but fine, well until they tried fighting Tobi. The best we were hoping for was to wear him down but he was inhuman! It looked like he could fight for _days_ using powerful jutsu and other tricks on top of all the injuries they gave him. Those who could move had little chakra, and those who still had chakra were severly injured, leaving Miyuki and Sakura to save them, draining them. Minato was gone, sealed by Tobi, so we didn't have the undying one with us, aside from Hidan who was just torn into multiple pieces...and had to be rearranged. For whatever reason the only ones that managed to stay _mostly_ unharmed were Yuki, myself, Starke, Naruto, and Tobi.

"I'll take my sister and the wolf, you handle Naruto," I said grabbing her and heading for the statue to try and prove the pretty much hour long debate of which side I was on. Hopefully the beings in the statue would talk some sense into her. The final battle was on.

I took Yuki to the top of the statue and had Starke keep her still as I became the 'middle man' for the whole conversation I had with Two-Tails. After it was over she just looked at me in disbelief.

I rolled my eyes at her and sat down, exhausted. I had used too much of my chakra and I only had enough to execute my Plan B.

"Shut up," I huffed, "Listen, I know it is crazy, but that is how it is in our lives right?"

"Well I remember everything now," she said, "Even who the Hero is. Its-"

We heard a scream of pain and jumped to see that Naruto was critically wounded, but he in turn wounded Tobi just as badly. I hopped down from my perch and went to both of them. I could only save one but at the cost of my secret weapon that I was saving. Starke hopped down and joined me, looking over them both.

_This is bad pup._

_I never would have guessed._

_I can help you save one, since you barely have enough chakra to stand._

_I got that covered, hey did Yuki tell you who the Hero was?_

_Yes, it is-_

Before he could answer he was stabbed by something. Aside from the shock of it all I was beginning to think the fates, Kami, and whatever thing or power didn't want me to know who it was. It was getting frustrated. Normally I wouldn't have bothered catching Starke but this wound was bad, even for him. He was leaking chakara everywhere and the only choice I had was to reabsorb him to save his life. He blocked a kunai that was poisoned from stabbing me. The type of poison it was, was for the victim to leak chakra, for me that wouldn't be so bad, for Starke, it was his life. When I did so the poison absorbed into me as well and I did not have the luxury of any antidotes on hand, but I would endure it. Starke was my best creation and one of my best friends, I was not going to let him die like that.

Weakened I knew I now could not save them by healing them, the posion that came from Tobi's last attempt to kill me was taking it's toll. The leaking chakra would risk me killing the person I was intending to heal. Just then Yuki appeared behind me and picked me up.

"God do I have to save you all the time?" she asked.

"This is a first sis," I smiled.

"Not really," she said, "You just never wanted someone to save you."

"True," I said, "What now?"

"I am here to help you," she said, "Together we are supposed to save the one who was meant to win this war. In turn he is supposed to save the world."

"How?" I asked.

"That part I am unclear on," she said, "I think I can put enough faith in you to help you make the right decision."

"Only one way to find out," I said closing my eyes, "I want all of this to stop!"

Suddenly a new marking appeared on both Yuki and I. She picked me up and began singing, this new mark, whatever it was made me feel better. It felt like all the bad things never happened, like I was in heaven. She looked at me and just assured me it was going to be alright as she went over to Naruto and helped him up. She asked me to do the same to Tobi, though every single event told me Tobi was not the one to chose, I still had to get him for it to work.

"What is this?" I asked.

"Well the Sages where we are from and our good ol' not related but we still call him Uncle Uchiha, gave this to us when all hope seemed lost. They didn't want us to use it because of what it can do. It can save anyone from dying but at the cost of another, that is why we need them both. It is an ancient jutsu preformed only once in our lifetime, in our time it was used to save someone important," she said, "Though after we do this, you know we will disappear."

"Why?" I asked.

"They said because of the War and the Hero winning many people hid away and found hope. Well if the good guys win, who says our families will ever meet. We are sacrificing ourselves to save people sis," she told me.

"Is it worth it?" I asked a final time.

"Yeah, I guess. They wouldn't have trusted us of all people to do it if it wasn't," she smiled before holding out her hand, "I am still scared."

"So am I sis," I said grabbing her hand for support.

Our markings began to glow brighter and soon we ourselves were white. We held Tobi and Naruto in hopes that something would happen. When it didn't we just looked at one another.

"Okay now what, do we drop one or what?" I asked.

"**Sort of," **came a voice.

"Holy shit baskets!" I screamed.

**"Still have a mouth on you. So both of you chose who lives...you know I will kill you for doing this,**" it said sounding upset.

"Uncle...don't worry. Kill her, she started this stupid mess," said Yuki pointing at me.

**"Both of you, shut up. Besides looks like you caused me a few new scars...Well thankfully my past self is out, otherwise this would be disturbing,"** it, or more like _he_ said.

"Your past...self? Uchiha...wait you aren't who I think you are...are you?" I asked extremely confused.

"Yep, he is," said Yuki, "Uncle Sasuke...the blind hermit from Old Konoha, the ghost that haunts the halls...you remember the story right?"

"Not really and...I think I am going to be sick..." I said as my head began to swim, "I really don't want to know why you survived or _how _for that matter.."

**"Same way my former master did, unfortunately," **he said.

"Okay enough confusing plot twists. I am sure I am not the only one that is really confused," I said.

**"So are you two finally ready? Took you two long enough,"** he said.

"Wait why aren't Tobi and Naruto freaking?" I asked.

"Oh my song I sang, everyone is out cold," Yuki smiled, "Yeah uncle I am ready."

"I suppose I am too," I sighed hoping I made the right choice.

* * *

**gunitatshuiko: **Thanks, I hope you like this one as well though there are a lot of OMGs in there.

**Alpenwolf: **No she isn't but you will see what happens to them later...yeah she is unpredictable but that was her role from the 'get go' as it were. The wild card that would 'help' or 'hurt' everyone. Yeah there is...truly. I will wrap up loose ends in the sort of Omake chappy that will come later...I am not sure what he is, though I really don't wanna know...he is just a loser who needs to grow up...Oh yeah, I got all the achievements for Skyrim too.

* * *

**River:** So yeah, can you tell I lost my notes on this chapter and had to wing it...so the Plot twits are full circle and the main part of the story is over...sorry for the 'rush' in it. There was just too much going on for me to really get a good fight scene in there and not leave anyone out...anyway. I hope you enjoyed yourselves and there will be one final chapter for the Epilogue. Though it saddens me that this story is finally over, I am happy that I gave you guys a smile. Thanks everyone for supporting me...


	51. Epilouge: Over the Years

_**Kori's POV**_

Waking up in the most unlikely of places, living my life. Now, now I was choosing to give it up to save it. The place I lived in for almost four years, the people I loved, and the things we never had in my life. If someone asked me to do this, I would have probably said no. Then again, my life hasn't been quite normal so far. I grew up, that is for sure...yet, turning to face Neji and all my friends after it was done. Knowing I would disappear...it broke my heart.

"Hey, will it hurt?" I asked.

"Not sure, but who says we are going anywhere?" she said, "The genjutsu should be wearing off soon."

"But..but...we...did things!" I said flustered.

"And?" she asked slowly, "If things were meant to be then they are, if not. Then they won't remember us...besides if we caused our own death's by saving everyone...then that is a time flux."

"Stop," I said pinching the bridge of my nose, "I only know about alternate universes, do not give me another headache."

"Your loss," she said.

"So will this kill us?" I asked.

"Oh _now _ you ask?" she said knocking me upside the head, "I don't know..It might."

Suddenly the world went black. Perhaps I would wake up home..I was hoping I would wake up home.

**No POV**

The gates of Konoha opened those who were now 'Heroes of War' filed in. The remainder of the allied forces were all invited back to Konoha to celebrate. The aftershocks of the war took their effects. The former criminals everyone feared were now being treated like old friends, though some, mainly Hidan, kept threatening people with dismemberment if they didn't leave him alone. Eventually the Kage found it in themselves to forgive those who were once in the Akatsuki, knowing how persuasive Tobi really was and they witnessed the former members defending them. Those who had fallen were remembered, or would be, a great memorial would be erected for them on the battle field. Families were reunited and it would seem that peace was in reach.

The only thing that weighed on the minds of the people were the many wounded that there were. Most of those who aided Naruto came back worse for wear. Those who were not immediately dying were sent to various med-nin camps, while those who were deemed 'would not make it through the night,' were handed over to Tsunade, and her skill med-nin team. Sakura and Miyuki were the only two that seemed to make it out of the battle conscious. They were weary of the fight and had given a full report of what happened to the other Kage.

The news of Kori hit the Kage differently. It was now up to them to decide what would happen to her, that is if she were still alive. They had a body, but no one had checked her vitals in some time. When they did, both sisters were weak, barely alive. Another blond had been save miraculously, a scar of a wound Tsunade had not seen before was over his heart. Probably a last attempt to save him by Sakura or Miyuki. However when questioned about it, Sakura claimed that Kori did that, along with Yuki.

"So what are we to do?" asked Tsunade.

"Well, we all once worked with the Akatsuki," said Mei.

"Speak for yourself," said A.

B and Gaara were being tended to nearby. Both were able to move but were tired from the battle, and it didn't help that they had no recollection of the last of the battle's events. No one but the sisters knew where Tobi was, it was apparent he was defeated, since all of his summons and jutsu had disappeared. Time would just have to tell them. Until those two girls woke up, no one would know.

**Three months later**

Most of Konoha had been rebuilt, and every shinobi village was helping the others in any way they could. Most of those injured were already awake and trying to get on with thier lives. The only ones who did not get on with their lives, were those who were there when Tobi died. Once a week they would still hold the family gatherings with an empty seat, reminding them that the war was not in vain. Though they all kept their prayers hopeful and wished for them to be filled again. Naruto and Hinata now joined them and when time gave them, Gaara and B were present as well. Yuki had already recovered and was well on her way teaching at the Academy.

Today it was Aiko's turn to check on the status of the girls, dragging Hidan in tow behind her. He was upset that he was 'volunteered' to go with her, and just wanted to get the visit over with so he could 'talk' to Aiko and hopefully take on some mission. Though he was bored out of his mind, and there were not many people he could kill but the war did not leave everyone in a 'lighter' mood. Many people had rebelled against the Kage, believing that there would be no peace and that left many shinobi with the task of hunting them down.

When Aiko opened the door to the room they were staying in she stopped dead in her tracks. Hidan bumped into her and began cursing.

"Damn woman! Tell me _before_ you stop!" he said.

Aiko just grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and pulled him forward so he could peer into the room. Even his eyes went wide, "Jasshin be praised..."

There on Kori's bed was none other than Starke. He was laying on her resting and looked up at them before placing his head back down on his legs to get more comfortable.

"Is she?" asked Aiko.

_No...just me. I haven't talked to her in too long. I am beginning to miss the pup. How long has it been?_

"Three months," Hidan deadpanned.

_I don't miss her conversation that much to break her news like that. How is everyone?_

"Well," said Aiko still in disbelief, "I suppose. Will she wake up?"

_I am here, so she should...I guess I am her 'life line'. If I fade, then she is gone. If not, she is still living. However, there is a conversation I must have with the Kage. I do believe that her sanity and whom they believe her alliance is with is at stake. None of you were able to remember what transpired. So I must clear up the mess those two made...hopefully. Watch over her while I am away._

**Later...much...later..**

**Kori's POV**

I woke up to a familiar sight of white. I smiled to myself hoping was not dead, and my smile only widened when I felt a wet tongue trail along my cheek. I looked over and turned my head slightly, and with difficulty to see Akamaru panting in my face.

"Ew dog breath...so speaking of your partner...where is Kiba?" I asked Akimaru.

The dog-nin looked over his shoulder as Kiba ran into the room and pulled him off my bed.

"Akamaru, how many time do I have to tell you, stop doing that," he scolded.

"Well it is a lot better than getting kisses from you Kiba," I said flatly. Kiba's eyes got wide as he let go of the dog-nin, "So this is the second time I woke up to find you frightened of me...go figure. So how long have I been here?"

**Uchiha Compound**

**Yuki's POV**

Though Shikamaru and I had been dating for a while now, his mom had managed to chase him out long enough to where he was living with me. Well at least for the two weeks it took her to forget something. I laughed when I saw him with his hair everywhere and looked as though he ran six miles, still in his pajamas. I was about to say something when I could hear a voice off in the distance.

"WHAT! OH YOU COME BACK HERE MUTT!"

"Kori!" I squealed, running out the door, grabbing Shikamaru, and not stopping until I was in her room.

Well I would have been in her room if everyone else had not have heard her as well. Everyone was trying to fit into the door at once as I could see Kiba fearing for his life. Neji had already arrived and was trying to hold down Kori, along with Ino and Sakura to keep her from killing Kiba.

"I swear if they let me out of this bed I will kill you!" she said.

"Kori," said Neji trying to calm her down, "That will do you no good."

"Neji," she stopped, "Holy shit Hyuga arms around me!"

Then it was his turn to try and back away from Kori as she held him in a hug. When she was finished she looked around the room and began to recognize everyone there. She began crying and smiled.

"I can't believe you are all here, even after.." she said before throwing her blankets over her head.

"Easy there hun," I told her, "I explained it, then Starke explained your take on things. It has been a long time for us to make peace with what happened."

"So you aren't mad?" she asked sheepishly.

"Outright furious, but I am more concerned if you are going to live long enough to make up for that. When we were sent to the hospital, the Kage were told of your part working with Tobi. Thankfully they discovered genjutsu was involved...but we are not sure if you broke through it or not. With that, as soon as you woke, you would be taken to get...well..they said it was up to them if you lived. And...well we were given time enough for you to wake up before they came and got you," I said trying to explain it delicately.

Before I could finish the full explanation, Kori was carted off by various members of ANBU.

**Kage's Meeting**

**Kori's POV**

After I was manhandled, again, seriously beginning to hate waking up after comas, and presented before the Kage. Now I was wondering how they were all together so soon, unless they were already in a meeting. Go figure. I huffed as I was sat down in a chair, already making my peace with resisting arrest and death if I was not allowed to live. No way was I going to give up.

The Kage looked at me like they had seen a ghost, but quickly recovered as I gulped and weakly smiled.

"So how is the wea-" I started to say.

"DO YOU REALIZE WHAT YOU DID!" yelled Tsunade.

"Yes, I knew what I was doing, I could somewhat help myself, and just tell me if I am to be killed, imprisoned, sealed, mangled, bruised, slapped on the wrist, or freed," I said, "You don't have all day."

"Do not show us disrespect!" said A.

"Don't mean to sir, it is just I have been _asleep in a coma_ for six months...I kinda wanna know. I mean it could kill me to know but my patience...hasn't improved," I sighed, "You know what...shutting up seems really nice right now."

That earned me a smack upside the head by both A and Tsunade...and I was surprised that I wasn't knocked out. So after the lump began to stop screaming at me from the pain, I looked up at them.

"Well while you were asleep in your coma, we came up with a decision," said Tsunade, "Ungrateful brat."

"So?" I said, "Out with it."

**No POV**

And so it was the Kage's decision to pardon Kori, with one stipulation. Kori would wear a special choker around her neck that would seal away her chakra until she proved that she was worthy of becoming a shinobi. Kori just smiled, so she would be set back a while of playing a few more theatrical pranks on her friends, but she was allowed to live. Smiling she hugged the Kage and thanked them for what they did but she told them that they had to allow Starke to use her Chakra, so they made him a special collar that would transfer a small amount of chakra to him, so he could live. Kori stepped out of the room as best she could, and was greeted by her family who were fearing the worst. So for the next few months she 'made up' to everyone anyway she could.

**Two years later...**

**Kori's POV**

"Are you ready?" asked Yuki.

"Yep, might as well be," I said walking out of the house, "So how is teaching going?"

"Fine, the kids are a handful though," she said, "That and it is either Masaki or freaking Shikamaru keeping me up.."

"It has been what almost the time I had this on me and you two still act like you are on your honeymoon...Jesus. I thought...no not saying it..Miss Nokohai _Nara_. I can't believe that made us use our real names...stupid Kage people. Though your name being N N is funny as hell. Besides isn't it like tradition or something to name kids..."

"That name was terrible, Ichiki? I mean it sounds cute but for a girl..." she sighed holding her year old closer to her, "Thanks for watching her."

"No problem," I sighed, "Come on...we need to get Neji before he bores a hole into Naruto for marrying Hinata."

"I thought that choker.." said my sis.

"It does, but I mean it is obvious..." I shrugged, "And I had to bribe, threaten, and persuade, all at the same time, Ino to shut up about it."

"You think her and Sai would be busy," she said nudging me.

"Ew do not want to think that.." I shuddered.

"Oh come on..is it really that bad?" she asked.

"No and it frightens me," I huffed heading out the door.

Yep though everyone still called us Yuki and Kori, it was made official that we would use our former names of Nokohai and Sukai Asshudo, though I had to fight them for the last name Asshudo instead of Kohaku. Neji and I were engaged, which caused a whole five minute attempt of the Hyuga clan to begin their usual gossip before Hinata, Hanabi, Neji, Akira, and Hiashi put a stop to it. Made me laugh for days about that one.

We made our way to where Neji was sighted in tow with Naruto. That is when I hid in the bushes and still used my sneaky ninja skills. Though chakra was a bust, I proved even more fierce without it, becoming a great Taijustu teacher, with Gai and Lee's help of course. They were more than happy to help. Sneaking up on my intended target I could hear my sis muttering something before I hopped out of the bushes in 'fearsome fiance mode'.

"Rawr!" I said when I realized I was still hanging in the air. I looked around and saw Naruto caught me, "Naruto! I was stalking!"

"Oh come on, I have to protect him sometime, he is my family after all," said Naruto.

"Oh hush it oh so blond cousin of mine," I pouted, "So have you and Hinata-"

I was dropped before I finished my sentence. Naruto just sighed, "I swear you and Pervy Sage should never have met. I don't know who is worse."

"Me, I am younger and have the same skill, though my pervy peeping is for one man only," I said smiling, "So what are you two talking about?"

"Well we are looking for you actually, Tsunade has something she wants to tell you," said Naruto.

"Ooh~ Am I being promoted to ANBU Commander Bad-Ass?" I asked.

"You are already that," said Neji.

"Yeah, just be glad you are one rank higher, sir," I huffed hating that I had to do that, and I only did it because it annoyed him more.

"Funny," said Neji before picking me up.

"Oh, prince charming routine, I am in trouble," I said kissing him, "So punishment later?"

"You scare me," said Naruto.

"You are so lucky I didn't teach Hinata anything...though the rope trick would.." I said before a glare from Neji glared at me.

"No corrupting her," he said flatly.

So after that little conversation we headed off to Tsunade's office. I found all the Kage there...so I had a dreadful aura beginning to creep up on me. I deflated, knowing with them all here the news could only be terrible.

"Now what?" I murmured.

"Today is the day we restore your ability to use chakra," said Mei, "I thought you would be happy."

I do belive everyone who was in the room lost hearing from me squealing so loudly.

**Four years Later**

Most of us were married, and had children. Currently I was busy trying to chase down two four year olds, courtesy of Neji's family having twins run in the family, and ironically mine. Their names were Aki and Ko and they were terrible! Cute as can be, and both had my and Neji's 'best' traits. Since we didn't know what they were until the day they were born, since they wouldn't lay still to save my life, I picked out names that could be either. Thank god, I had one boy and a girl. Aki looked just like Neji, and his hair was lighter with a purple hue, just a shade darker than Hinata's, making his lavender eyes stand out. Ko took after me but had darker, nearly black hair and striking white-silver eyes. I pouted when they both had the Hyuga Clan eyes but I supposed it was meant to be.

"Damn it you two, get back here! I have a mission in the morning, bath!" I cried running down the halls.

"Miss Sukai," said a servant, "If you woul-"

"My kids my problem," I cut him off, "Starke!"

_I do not chase puppies of you pup. Last time Aki managed to _tear out_ my fur. Which with anyone else would be impossible without help from chakra._

"Evil mutt!" I grumbled until I turned the corner only to find both of the little monsters around Neji. Before I could skid to a stop we slammed into one another, "Ow, how was work?"

"Good, but now I belive I should have accepted that last minute mission that Naruto wanted me to take," he said groaning, "Aki, Ko, why are you evading your mother?"

"Because they are just like you," I smiled taking Ko, "Isn't that right sweetheart."

"Yes mommy," she giggled as I tickled her, "But Aki said that great uncle Akira that he is more like you."

"Oh lets hope not," I said rolling my eyes, "One me is enough. Anyway, we should let these two train the new recruits. They could play hide and seek or tag...see how many of them survive."

"Honey that is just cruel," said Neji before kissing me, "We taught them too well."

"So how is Hinata, Naruto, and little HARU ?" I asked.

"Well good, Sasuke and Sakura are here from Sound and they brought Raiden," he said, "Seems that they are doing well as Kage there."

"That boy is aptly named," I shuddered, "He is scary and it doesn't help his uncle Itachi just loves him and apparently so does everyone else...and well kids."

"Do I sense jealousy?" asked Neji.

"No koi, I am not, though if those four are going to do any miai-kekkon, Hinata will flip her shi- lid, was going to say lid," I said blushing as I covered my ass.

"I am sure my little renai," he said, "so your pet name for me today, a bit selfish aren't we?"

"I am allowed once in awhile, and you used koi too! Besides I fully intend on that promise after children are in bed," I said picking up the twins and smiling, "Alright you two either work with me or I bathe you with jutsu."

" 'kay," they said pouting.

"Hey mom, we got our names how?" asked Ko.

"Because I loved you two so much, but it was a bit of a surprise that you were a boy and a girl, so I gave the more 'manly' name I suppose to Aki, and gave you yours, and if you ask me Ko fits you in and out love," I said.

"But he doesn't sparkle!" she said.

"Well he isn't a vampire!" I said with more of a random outburst than anything.

"What is a vampire?" asked Aki.

"Alright bedtime subject for story picked, bath first. Uncle Hiashi is laughing at me I just know it," I said before giving them a bath.

After giving them a bath and putting them to sleep, 'mother mode' went to sleep and 'hot husband in bedroom' kicked in. So I made a bee line to their bedroom and was lucky enough to catch him still undressing. I mean it wasn't like I wasn't allowed, but I had to get my kicks somewhere. I slinked into the room and crept up behind him. Then I placed my hands over his eyes right after he took his shirt off.

"So hun how about a bit of R-A-P-E?" I asked in a low 'sexy' tone.

He turned around but when he did so he stopped and his eyes got wide, then he thanked Kami for pants. I wondered why he did so, and then it came to my attention.

Then a tiny little voice came from the door way, "Mommy why is daddy going to be ropped?"

I belive I fainted as I saw the kids ninja thier way into our bed. How the hell they did that, I would never know. It was one of the great mysteries of life.

So all in all, Hinata and Naruto were Lady and Lord Hokage of Konoha, while Sasuke and Sakura became Kage of the Land of Sound after the war, hoping to help balance things. The biju were returned to thier respective villages, though the six-tails was given to the land of Sound as a peace thing, I suppose. Everyone seperated, somewhat: Miyuki, Suigetsu, their children, and Kisame were in kiri already running the renewed Seven Swordsmen of the Mist, after years of convincing on Kisame's part. Itachi traveled with Jugo and Jiriya for a while until Itachi decided to return to Konoha, and even now Itachi has two boys. Gaara asked for Mari and Deidara for officer positions in Suna, Hidan and Aiko are the two most terrifying Hunter-nin's and they work for anyone willing to hire them, though they never ask why they are hunting them, it is safer that way, and more fun for Hidan. That is until Hidan found out he was a father...and that little hellion can not come near my house with anything sharper than a crayon. I did not realize he had his father's jutsu and well one day he decided to scare the shit out of me and 'kill himself' by jumping off the roof of my house on Halloween, and now I am the only thing that kid fears, along with all the rest of the children that day. Aiko probably would have killed me if he didn't deserve it.

* * *

**AKI** (1-, 2-, 3-): Japanese unisex name meaning: 1) "autumn" 2) "bright" 3) "sparkle." Aki is also 'father' in This is the boy's name.

**KO** (1-, 2-, 3-): Variant spelling of Japanese unisex Kou, meaning 1) "happiness," 2) "light," or "peace." The girl's name. I used these names because of the 'love' behind the two characters, and together they are Akiko, which translates to 'Love Child'.

**HARU **(1-, 2-, 3-): Japanese unisex name meaning 1) "clear up," 2) "spring," or 3) "sun, sunlight." Hinata and Naruto's kid, she is about three. Okay this one I pulled out of a hat..sorta.

**RAIDEN** (): Japanese myth name of a god of thunder, meaning "thunder and lightning."

Sakura and Sasuke's child, he is about four. I chose this name because Sakue's master of lightning and Sakura's abrasive nature, and loud yelling.

**miai-kekkon** (ｩ｢･, arranged marriage)

**Renai** i､j" is written with the kanji characters of both "koi" and "ai." This word means, "romantic love." "Koi" is a love for the opposite sex, or a feeling of longing for a specific person. It can be described as "romantic love" or "passionate love." While "ai" has the same meaning as "koi," it also has a definition of a general feeling of love. "Koi" _can_ be selfish, but "ai" is a real love. Here are some lines that explain them well:Koi is always wanting. Ai is always giving.

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**Alpenwolf:** I know funny, but no the Hero is in the early chapter...lol. So it is safe to say Kori and Yuki are from an AU of the story and Tobi won and he used the Eye of the Moon Plan, though there was one problem, every once in a while people would wake up...and that is what happened to Kori and Yuki...and so their adventure began..

Thanks for the grats.

**gunitatsuhiko: **Don't worry bout the confusion, it was meant to be like that. WAIT...the story wasn't over at chappy 50 it is now with this one...So yeah re-live the crazy and adventure that I have had writing it. Oh yeah, the horror...oh the horror of you re-reading this...pure torture I am sure.

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**River: **Alright-y then I am so finished. This is the last chapter of this wonderful story. I hope you enjoyed it...sorry I only gave names to few of the kids, there were too many couples who I wanted to procreate. So make up your own, as it were. I hope you like that your characters kid killed themselves in front of Kori Gunita...I found that sickly amusing in my own head...so tell me what you think.


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